Abyss Game
by forgotten unmei
Summary: “Welcome to Abyss. Enjoy your stay.” Somehow he felt that ‘game over’ had been given a new meaning. AkuRoku. Side Zemyx. AU
1. Game Over

_**Author's note**__: Here's the first chapter of Abyss. I hope you'll like it ^-^ It will feature mainly AkuRoku, but some Zemyx on the side. Those two should pop up in one of the next chapters. Other members will appear in later chapters too. _

_The parts in italics are Roxas' direct thoughts. _

_Enjoy._

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**Abyss**

Chapter 1 – Game over

* * *

Roxas saw a balloon float by as he watched the sky. He wasn't the only one who had gone to the theme park, which was celebrating its fourth year of opening. The lines before the rides were long, filled with whiny little children. The teen sighed and dragged his feet along to find a ride which was less crowded.

"That last ride was no fun at all. Just a stupid puzzle and if you fail, you get kicked out." A group of teenagers were complaining to each other about their last ride. "Yeah. I mean, have you ever met anyone who passed the first level? No wonder that nobody goes in there anymore." One of them pointed to what apparently was the difficult ride. Roxas glanced to where the girl was pointing and saw a huge, multi-storied building. It had to have at least twenty levels and was built in a Victorian style. Looking like an elegant and classic building, it still had an unexplainable aura as Roxas stared at it. _To difficult for anyone to pass, eh?_ Maybe it could actually pose a challenge to him, considering he had gotten quite sick of all the childish games in the park.

"Do you want to try it?"

Startled, Roxas turned around to see a young guy with long silver hair behind a ticket box. It seemed his feet had brought him up to the ride without him noticing. The silver guy gave him a neutral look, which said that he really didn't care whether Roxas tried it or not. The guy, Riku as his nametag read, was obviously not very thrilled about his job. _Can't blame him for that though. _"Well, are you?" Knocked out of him musings, he answered with an equally neutral look, "Sure why not?"

Considering there was no line, Roxas could walk straight into the ride. After opening one of the massive oaken doors, he entered a room which was nothing like the style of the buildings exterior. It was all stark white. So white that it almost hurt his eyes to look at it. The furniture in the room was equally white; a candle, a vase and a ladder. The only colour in the room was that of a golden key which was hanging from the ceiling. _So I'm supposed get the key right?_ Roxas frowned slightly as he looked at the three pieces of furniture to work with. The simplest thing to do, would be to use the ladder to reach the key. Yet the key hung in the middle of the room and he could only place the ladder against the wall for support. _Of course it's a challenge that requires height. _Being as short as he was, Roxas already had enough problems to pick up something from a top shelf, let alone from a ceiling. Grumbling under his breath, he tried to think of other options.

After fifteen minutes of frustrated thinking, he was no closer to an answer. The fact that the door on the other side seemed to be laughing at him, wasn't helping either. Roxas was getting temped to throw the vase at it. The only thing restraining him was that if he did, then he'd admit that doors could laugh. Glaring at the door, he suddenly noticed something. It had no lock for a key to go in! He had figured the goal of getting the key was to open the door on the other side but if there was no lock… _Don't tell me. The challenge was to realise that there is no challenge?_ Roxas cautiously crossed the room to reach the door. Placing his hand on the handle, he slowly moved it downwards. After pushing the door forwards, it opened and showed a new room.

It was empty except for a big television screen. Then suddenly a voice thundered through the room. "Congratulations! You have made it through the preliminary and may now enter the game." Roxas eyes were wide as he blinked out of surprise. The voice sounded like a little girl but was so void of emotion that it had to be a computer recorded message. "Welcome to Abyss. Enjoy your stay." As the recording was finished, the lights went out and the room was shrouded in darkness. Panicking slightly, Roxas tried to walk backwards to the door he had come through. But the door was no longer there, neither was the wall.

The entire room had changed.

* * *

As the lights suddenly turned on again, Roxas could see that the room had not only changed but had also significantly gained size. No longer an empty square-like room, it had turned into the inside of a circular circus tent. The walls and ceiling were covered in white-red stripes. There were audience stands, a stage and several stage attributes; a trampoline, cages filled with African animals and a tightrope to name a few.

Roxas stood watching in awe, not moving a muscle. His eyes darted to every corner of the large space. _How the hell is this possible? _He knew for sure that there wasn't a circus anywhere near Twilight Town. And even if there was, no way that it could appear before him in a couple of seconds. A little glint shook him out of his musings. The shimmer came from a key similar to the one in the first room, hanging from the top of the tent. It was just above the tightrope. If you were to walk over to the middle of it, then you could easily grab the key. Frowning slightly, the youth noticed that there was no safety net. _No way that I'm going up that thing._

"Welcome!" "Welcome!"

Roxas felt his heart skip a beat as he suddenly heard those greetings. They weren't said in the same soft, neutral tone as the computer had said them. The voices were lower, masculine and just plain creepy. Closing his eyes for a second before slowly opening them again, Roxas turned to face the owners of the voices.

Only to wish that he hadn't.

It looked like they had to represent clowns, but their evil grins weren't going to make anyone laugh. _More like cry. I've never liked clowns, but these guys look straight out of a horror movie. _Their faces were covered with so much excessive make-up that they could give the Joker a run for his money. They weren't colourful clowns either; white, black and red were the only colours. Their mouths were painted in such a way that it looked like if they were covered in blood. The black around their eyes accentuated the fact that their eyes had no iris, only a black pupil surrounded by white. _Relax Roxas, they're just contact lenses. _It didn't help him from being creeped out by their evil stares though. The rest of their faces were white with the exceptions of some red smudges, which also looked a bit too much like blood for comfort. Both were bald with a small hat on their head. Their clothes were relatively normal; black tuxedo's with a bow and perfectly white gloves. _At least those aren't covered in red. _

Roxas just stared, he couldn't move. Ice blue eyes wide open, the clown couple widened their grins. "Looks like we've gotten ourselves a new victim. A cute one at that." The blonde was too scared to even scowl at the remark. He never liked being called cute, but right now he was too busy deciding whether he should run like hell or stay still. Not that his body allowed the first option. He felt like he was stuck underwater with a boulder attached to his feet to prevent him from swimming to the surface.

The clown changed his face to what probably should have been a pout, but it looked more like a grimace. "He's not very entertaining, is he?" The other one widened his wicked grin, "He's just paralyzed in the sight of our beauty." They looked at each other, bursting out in laughter. An eerie sound that shook Roxas out of his paralysis. No longer wanting to be anywhere near the couple, he ran as fast his feet could carry him into the opposite direction. However, the sound of laughter only increased. Apparently they were quite pleased with the fact that their victim wasn't as helpless as he seemed at first glance. "Try to get the key, goldilocks! It even matches your hair." The other one joined in too, "For now it does. When we're done with you, it's going to be scarlet red."

After running up to near the stage, Roxas turned around to see that the clowns were no longer in sight. Swirling around, he tried to locate the creepy duo only to stare into the face of a new 'clown'. Letting out a yelp, he almost tripped over his own feet. The wannabe-clown started grinning and reached down to grab him. Roxas quickly started running away again but it seemed pointless. Every time he stopped a new clown would pop up. By now there were about nine clowns and he was starting to run out of stamina to keep his legs moving.

The clowns wouldn't stop laughing and sneering at him. "Like stealing candy from a baby." A disturbing wink. "And believe me I would know."

Suddenly Roxas stopped running around. This was a theme park ride, right? So this shouldn't be real. "You guys really had me scared. But now I'd like to go. This ride lasted long enough," Roxas said. The grins of the clowns' face only increased though. _If they grin any wider, their faces are going to crack. _While he was trying to shake that disgusting image out of his head, one of the clowns spoke up, "How cute, he thinks we're joking." More laughter. "Let's prove him we are _dead_ serious." Roxas definitely didn't like the glint that had appeared in their eyes.

One of the clowns moved to a cage that was set next to the stage. It was filled with three lions; one male and two female. While proving that he could indeed grin even wider without cracking his face in two, he slowly opened the doors of the cage. Quickly the clown climbed on top of the cage, out of reach of the ferocious animals. Roxas saw, as he quickly looked around, that the other eight clowns had also climbed up to save heights. Leaving only the stairs to the tightrope open. Suddenly the clowns yelled at the same time, scaring both the lions and Roxas. The lions though, looked more hungry than scared. Slowly walking towards their only reachable prey. _Which would be me._

"Don't worry, boy," One of the painted creeps sneered. "We won't let them kill you. Just maim you a bit."

"Yeah. It would be no fun if you died this soon." The look in his eyes made Roxas feel that death would be preferable to their plans. "Nothing good ever came from rushing things."

The sniping comments had made Roxas lose his attention. Because when he looked at the lions again, they had come considerably closer. _They're probably going to try to surround me. _Running to the only high place left, which wasn't covered with clowns, he hurried to the stairs of the tightrope. Luckily, the lions hadn't expected him to move so suddenly because he could actually reach the stairs without losing any limbs. Still, he wanted as much distance as possible and quickly climbed the staircase. Once on top, he was joined by clapping.

"Great job, goldilocks. Now you only need to reach the key."

_Easier said than done. _He had a pretty good balance though; his teacher for sword training always made him do weird balance exercises. Roxas wasn't sure what balance had to do with using a sword but he definitely wasn't going to complain about it ever again. _If I live long enough to ever get another lesson. _Sending out a little prayer to his teacher, _give me a little help Leon_, he started walking on the thin line. Inch by inch, he slowly creeped closer to the golden key.

_Almost there. I got it! _With the key in his hand, Roxas made it to the other side. Only to see that one of the clowns was climbing up the stairs. When he looked to the other side of the rope, a clown was happily waving at him from the other platform. He was cornered. Looking around some more, he saw that the remaining clowns were luring the lions back in their cage with some fresh meat. The blood was still dripping off of it. Blinking, he tried to focus. _Come one, what else can I do?! _

"Here I come, little boy."

With, yet again, an evil grin on his face, the clown made it up onto the platform where Roxas was standing. Slowly reaching out to grab him, the blond automatically stepped backwards. If he stepped any further, then he would fall off. The clown seemed to have guessed that train of thought, "So which is it? Me or falling down 10 meters?" Swallowing loudly, Roxas looked alternatively between the clown and the ground. _Hmm, get maimed by a clown or do it myself? _

"How about neither?" Both the clowns and Roxas quickly looked at the ground to locate the owner of the new voice. It was also a low, masculine voice, but without the creepiness of the clowns.

On the middle of the stage stood a tall young man. Probably in his mid-twenties, with bright red hair. He had a smirk on his lips, green eyes seemed to be smirking along. And were those tattoos? "What do you want, _Axel_." The clown near Roxas, spit the name out with as much disgust as he could manage.

"Me? Just dropping by. But you know what that means, blood-face." The redhead countered. The man's, no Axel's, smirk widened, but it wasn't scary like the clowns' grin had been. It was more teasing, maybe even flirty as he looked at Roxas. "Game over, kiddo. I'm impressed you actually got the key on your first try though." Blinking with his bright blue eyes, Roxas answered, "Isn't 'game over' a bad thing?" Another smirk. "Well, you are going to have to try again, but at least you won't get maimed. So that makes it a good thing, blondie," Axel gave him a wink.

"Try to get some sleep". And suddenly it was lights out again.

* * *

When the lights turned on again he was stuck in a bland, grey room. There was a bed, a toilet and a plate with bread and water. No Axel. _What the hell is going on. _After spending a good half hour thinking of complot theories, he checked his watch; 11.30 P.M. "Might as well take his advice and get some sleep." As Roxas laid himself down on bed, realising just how sore his body was from the stress, he slowly willed his eyes shut. Waiting for sleep to come.

****

* * *

Day 1461.

**New subject has appeared: XIII. ****  
Passed Level 0 without much difficulty.  
Failed at Level 1.  
Was saved from execution by subject VIII.  
Rule: Being helped by another subject forces both subjects to return to Level 1. **

**Current Level of subjects:  
I – 18  
II – 16  
III – 8  
IV – 12  
V – 17  
VI – 13  
VII – 18  
VIII – 1  
IX – 2  
X – 15  
XI – 6  
XII – 6  
XIII - 1  
**_**  


* * *

Author's note**__: Inspiration of the clowns came from Ayumi Hamasaki's video 'alterna'. Seriously watch it, it's very good. Those clowns give me the creeps :O If you like creepy video's then Ayu's 'ourselves' is pretty good too. _

_More AkuRoku and some Zemyx in the next chapter, I promise. _

_Also, this is my first Kingdom Hearts story, so if I'm writing them somewhat OOC, then do please tell me. (Constructive) criticism is appreciated. _

_Thanks for reading.__ Please review :D _


	2. the Cheshire Cat eats Butterflies

_**Author's note**__: The second chapter is up. It's a bit longer this time with some more answers about what's going on. And Demyx appears._

_Enjoy :D _

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**Abyss**

Chapter 2 – the Cheshire Cat eats Butterflies

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Roxas slowly woke up from a dreamless sleep. Unfortunately his weird encounter with those eerie clowns hadn't been a nightmare, since he was still stuck in that bland room. Feeling a little less sore than last night, he stretched his limbs lazily. _I guess I should eat something, if this is going to start all over again. _He started eating from the bread which laid on a plate on the sterile floor. Chewing absently, the blonde wondered if he would see that red-haired guy, Axel, again. "He said that I'd have to start over again." The memory of those clowns made Roxas shudder as he hoped that he wouldn't have to go against them on his own.

"Good morning."

The blonde almost choked on his bread as the girly computer voice rang through the room. "Subject XIII has failed his last level." Roxas quickly took a sip of his drink as the computer droned on. He had a feeling that those lights were going to dim again and that he would have to start this freak show again. "Subject XIII will start at Level 1." Silence. Then the light flicked off and on again, showing the same circus-like tent from yesterday. _I hate being right._ The nine clowns from yesterday were waving happily towards him.

And so was a certain redhead.

"Ready for your next try, kiddo?" Axel asked. Left eye twitching slightly, Roxas couldn't suppress snipping back, "I'm not a kid." Axel only started smirking at the cold reply though. "Really? Well you could've fooled me." A wink. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" His blue eye gave another twitch. "So what's your name?" _Remember that he saved you last time, Roxas. Be nice. _"My name's Roxas."

The clowns seemed to have lost their patience as well. "If you're quite done with the introductions, then let's begin." Another joined in, "Yeah. Let the _hell_ games begin." Suddenly a big ball of fire lit up the room. It seemed they had started a new act. Flame breathing. _Still better than lions, I suppose. _

Much to Roxas' surprise Axel just started laughing. "Flames, eh? This could be fun." Big blue eyes blinking up incredulously at him, Axel just flashed the blonde another smirk and looked around the room. "The first level isn't really that difficult really. The key never even changes places." He was right. Right above the middle of the tightrope, a golden key was hanging from the tent-ceiling. "Think you can get it again, _Roxy_?" Another twitch. "I'll distract those creeps and show them how to really play with fire." If Roxas hadn't already thought of Axel as a pyromaniac just by his hair, then the glint in those green eyes certainly would've.

"Good luck." With one last glance back at the lanky stranger, Roxas started walking over to the tightrope again. As he climbed the stairs to the platform, a yell could be heard. Looking over his shoulder, he could see that Axel had managed to knock one of the clowns out. Stealing a bottle and fire stick out his hands in the process. _He's not seriously going to do that, is he? _Axel was. Holding the bottle over his lips, the redhead took a big sip. Far bigger than those of the painted creeps. Then he sprayed it out over the fire stick. A huge flame filled the room. Much larger than any of the clowns', keeping them at bay.

After getting over the shock that this stranger was apparently a master fire breather, he started climbing again. Reaching the platform, Roxas took another glance at the spectacle meters below him. _Yes, meters below me. Which will be the death of me if I fall down… _Axel had paused for a minute and was looking directly at the blonde. Was that concern in his eyes? "Well blondie, are you gonna start walking, during this century preferably? Too scared probably." So much for concern. "Excuse me, if I don't feel like balancing countless meters above the ground without a safety net!" Roxas growled back. Axel simply raised an eyebrow at him, which seemed to say 'and I care, why?'. Grumbling under his breath Roxas started walking on the tightrope, his eyes missing the satisfied smirk that crossed the redhead's lips.

With a careful balance he was able to grab the key yet again and cross to the opposite platform. "Come back down," Axel ordered. Holding back a retort at the bland command, Roxas could see that the pyromaniac stood a little before the stairs to keep the clowns away. Careful not to repeat what happened to Roxas the last time.

Once the blonde had climbed down, he started looking around for the door to put the key into. "Look to your right." Doing as Axel said, Roxas only saw the red-white walls of the tent. Frowning slightly, he could see a little lock in the wall. _So the door is hidden within the wall? I never would've found it that easily on my own. _"Stay behind me." The redhead started walking slowly towards the door, keeping the clowns away with his flames at the same time. They were almost near the wall when suddenly Roxas no longer saw fire in the corner of his eyes.

The bottle had run out of liquid.

Axel threw the bottle at the nearest clown, who let out an agonizing sound, and grasped Roxas' wrist, sprinting towards the key lock. They weren't fast enough though, quickly the remaining seven clowns surrounded the duo. Grasping the fire stick tightly in his hands, the redhead softly whispered to Roxas, "I'll create an opening and then you can sprint to the door." He didn't like that idea though. "Then how are you supposed to get out?" Roxas countered. No answer. "Do you even know how to handle a stick or sword-like weapon?" He got a tense answer. "Not sword-like, no."

_I'm gonna regret this so much. _"Well I can. So you can sprint to the door and open it, while _I_ keep them busy." Replacing the key with the stick from of Axel's loosened grip, Roxas quickly unarmed two clowns as they were equally shocked by his sudden attack. Axel blinked once, before regaining his composure and running the last steps towards the lock to open it.

The clowns obviously didn't know how to attack properly either. Roxas could quickly manoeuvre between the creeps by using the stick like a sword. _I seriously need to buy Leon a thank-you present if I ever get out. _His trainer's 'no pain, no gain' exercises had made the blonde one of the best young swordsmen in the country.

Finally a loud click was heard as Axel unlocked the door. Roxas was nimble enough to avoid the now desperate clowns and sprinted towards the door. As he flew through the opening, Axel quickly closed the door, shutting out the clowns.

* * *

Both were panting loudly as they tried to control their racing hearts. "Nice tricks, goldilocks. Didn't think you could hold your own against those freaks," Axel laughed.

"Please don't call me that. Those clowns kept calling me that too." _Their faces and voices are going to roam through my dreams. Scratch that. Through my nightmares. _Roxas' eyes flinched at the memory of those white eyes. "Ah I guess, I'll just call you Roxy then, or blondie. Plenty of other possibilities," The redhead answered with a grin. The blue-eyed youth could feel his blood pressure rising.

"…How about just using my actual name?" Another wink. "Where's the fun in that?" Axel questioned. Sighing, he looked at his new surroundings. It was very plain. A dull grey colour everywhere and not even one piece of furniture. When he glanced over his shoulder, he found out that the door had disappeared too. Axel followed his gaze and answered, "We just passed a level and are allowed a little breather. But since this is still below Level 5, we'll have to continue again after a few minutes."

Roxas decided to ask the question which had been on his mind ever since the lights had dimmed the first time. "_What_ is this place?" Axel smirked at him again, but it didn't reach his eyes. "It's a game. With levels. Just now, we passed Level 1." Looking into the blonde's blue eyes, he continued, "When you fail during the first 5 levels, you get placed into an isolated chamber until your next turn. Like yesterday. When you win, if still below Level 5, you directly continue to the next level. Until it turns 11.00 P.M. After that time you get transported to the 'Rest Chamber', as we call it. Everyone who is somewhere between Level 1 and Level 5 may rest there." Roxas nodded. _Wait, 'everyone'? _

"There are more people stuck here?" Roxas asked. Axel gave a hollow laugh. "When the computer greeted you, what number did she call you?" _She called me a subject. Subject number…_"Thirteen." He answered. "Yeah. Larxene's twelve so you're our newest addition, number thirteen." Axel replied. "The first five levels are pretty easy. We can probably do Level 2 and 3 today. Then four and five tomorrow." _He keeps mentioning Level 5. _The blonde slightly tilted his head causing his bangs to fall in his eyes. "What's so special about the fifth level?"

The redhead's grin seemed more genuine this time. "After finishing Level 5, we get a new Rest Room. More luxurious. It even has a small radio and television." His grin widened. "Plus, you can see everyone between the levels 5 to 10 there. I haven't picked on Xaldin in a while now." Judging by the look in his green eyes, Axel was already thinking of ways to pester this Xaldin guy. "Maybe even see Demyx. He's kind of an airhead, but a real nice guy. Loads of energy." The redhead closed his eyes for a second, before continuing, "Also, after finishing Level 5, you get to return to the Rest Room each time after finishing a new level. Instead of having to keep going until 11.00 P.M. like right now."_ He knows a lot about this place. I wonder how long he's been here. _

"Congratulations."

Once again, Roxas nearly jumped out of his skin at the unexpected interruption by the computer. _I'm never going to get used to that. _He quickly glared at Axel, when he heard the redhead chuckling at his reaction. It didn't help much, as the pyromaniac just ruffled his hair in amusement.

The voice continued to play its message. "You have successfully completed Level 1. You will now continue to Level 2. Good luck, subjects VIII and XIII." The light dimmed once again as the computer had finished its message._ Great. Now what? _

* * *

Having shielded himself for more freaky sceneries to appear, Roxas was quite shocked to see nothing but an ordinary white staircase. And apparently it showed. "Stop gaping like a fish, Roxy. To reach a new level, we need to actually go up a floor." Walking ahead, Axel looked over his shoulder as he continued to speak, "Don't worry, blondie. The second level isn't scary, just confusing." Roxas quickly followed the redhead up the stairs. He might feel relieved that the next level wasn't going to be insane, that didn't mean he wanted to pass it alone. No matter how infuriating the other man's smirk might be.

After they reached the top of the stairs, Axel put his hand on the door's handle. He glanced down at Roxas. _Yes, down. Because that guy was insanely tall, damn it. _"Ready?" The blonde nodded. "Alrighty, here we go. Into the maze."

The tattooed redhead wasn't kidding when he had said maze. Once they had stepped through the door, they stood on top of a platform overlooking the new room. There were endless corridors made out of hedges, forming a complex puzzle. He could see that there were two other platforms in the room. The hedges were so high that even Axel wouldn't be able to look over them once they would leave the high platform. The outer walls in the room had a blue sky with clouds painted on them in a somewhat fairylike style. The entire room looked borrowed out of a children's story. The hedges were cut in strange shapes, some animal, and there were colourful flowers everywhere. Roxas felt like if he was stuck in the movie Alice in Wonderland. _Axel fits right in, his grin reminds me of the Cheshire Cat._

Suddenly remembering the point of the game, Roxas looked around for another door or key. "The door is hidden in one of the hedges," Axel answered for him. He tapped a finger to his forehead. "I don't really remember where the key was. It's been a while since my last visit here." _He has already been through these levels before. _Looking the redhead in the eye, Roxas asked, "What was the highest level you've reached?" A distant look passed over the tall man's eyes. "Level 17 is my record," He answered.  
"Really? That's high. How many levels does this place have?" Roxas questioned. Axel gave him a humourless grin. "Do you think I would still be here if I knew? We think twenty is the highest. It gets really difficult after fifteen, Xemnas nearly died at level 19. He's lucky Saix studied medicine and could fix him up." Blue eyes widened at that reply. Axel quickly backtracked. "Hey, hey. That was only once and we're nowhere near such difficult levels." Roxas frowned, "What about the first level then. Those clowns sent lions after me." The redhead sighed. "Well, the first level is quite dangerous, yes… Let's just finish this level, okay? I want to get through this one and three today." _Not the most subtle topic change ever._

They walked down the stairs connected to the platform to enter the maze. "So which way do we go?" Roxas asked. There were three different paths in front of the duo. "Ah now I remember. See those flowers?" Axel said. In the hedge of each path was a large flower, none of them were in bloom though. "Go stand in front of one, Roxy." With a doubtful glance at the redhead, Roxas went to stand in front of the flower of the left path.

Nothing happened.

"Now what?" The blonde asked. "Nothing. That's the right path." Axel answered and started walking through the left path. This pattern repeated a couple more times. Roxas would stand in front of one the flowers, nothing would happen and then they'd walk in that direction. The redhead wouldn't stop grinning the entire time. _He's waiting for something._

Axel didn't have to wait long.

Roxas looked bored as he stood before another flower. Then suddenly the flower bloomed. And a spray of water hit him straight in the face. Blinking owlishly he turned around to see Axel laughing so hard that he had to clutch his stomach. "Haha. The look on your face was priceless, blondie." Roxas glared at him with as much hate as he could muster. It wasn't very convincing when he was soaked though. "You look like a drenched puppy. So cute." Axel was trying to control his laughter. _Cute? _The blonde couldn't keep the blush from creeping up his cheeks at that comment. Quickly ducking his head to hide his reddened cheeks, he muttered. "You pick the flower from now on." Axel just responded with a cheeky grin and picked the next flower. _The right one, unfortunately._

They kept walking for another half hour. Each picking flowers alternatively. Roxas was positively soaked by now and Axel proved that even when wet, his hair still defied gravity. _This is actually kind of fun. _Bantering back and forth, more like flirting on Axel's side, the duo was slowly reaching towards the location of the key.

"How old are you anyway, Roxy?"

"I'm nineteen years. What about you?" Roxas answered. The mischief glint in Axel's eyes appeared again as the redhead looked him over. "So you're legal then, eh?" Cue blush. "Haha, so cute. I'm twenty-three," Axel answered.

Then the path ended and the two youngster were looking at a weirdly cut tree. It looked somewhat like a cross, but the bottom looked off. Hanging on the top was the golden key they needed. "This will be so much easier now that we're together. Last time I was on my own and had to climb that thing to reach the key," Axel complained. "Climbing has never been my best skill. I still have a scar on my knee from when I fell out of tree. I was eight back then, I think." Roxas didn't like where this was going. "I'll give you a boost, Roxy." _Just like I thought. _Roxas looked at him with eyes full of mistrust. "Ah don't give me that look, blondie. I won't drop you, I promise." The redhead crossed his hand across his heart in a dramatic gesture. The fact he was smirking at him mischievously made it less believable though.

After some more 'subtle' persuasion, Roxas allowed Axel to give him a boost and got the key.

"Great job, blondie." The redhead had failed to call Roxas by his real name even once. "So, where's the key lock, _Axel_?" Another smirk. "Only a couple more steps, _Roxy the Foxy_." His blue eyes were starting to get a permanent twitch. Grasping the blonde's wrist, the lanky youth dragged him to the other side of the tree. Revealing a key lock. "Really sneaky, you know. Everybody tends to be so happy that they found the key that they don't even look at the tree again." Axel said as he stole the key out of Roxas' hand and opened the lock.

"On to Level 3, my little ice cube."

* * *

After climbing a new set of stairs, the pair ended up in a hallway. It looked like a corridor for the sleeping chambers on an old cruise ship. The floor even tilted slowly from left to right as if they were on sea. _It better not end up like the Titanic. _Positivism had never been Roxas' strongest virtue.

"This is just a matter of checking rooms and trying to find the key. Without getting butchered by whatever is behind those doors." The tone of Axel's voice showed that he wasn't joking about the 'getting butchered' part. Resisting the urge to gulp, Roxas asked, "What kind of things can be in those chambers?" The redhead shot him a lopsided grin as he answered, "The butterfly lady for one." _Butterfly? That doesn't sound that scary. _Axel seemed to have read his thoughts as he continued, "Don't be fooled by the name, Roxie. She's one nasty lady." After that, he walked towards the first door. Only to find out it was locked.

"Well, after you get the key, you still have to find the door to fit it in. That's why some doors are locked. Be sure to remember which ones." The redhead walked over to the second door. Grasping the handle slowly, he opened the second door. Water crept out of the room and suddenly they were…

Staring right in the jaw of a very large shark.

Yelling simultaneously, Axel quickly shot the door closed. "Great, right at the second try. My poor heart, I think it almost stopped," Axel complained. Roxas couldn't even reply. He just stood there, shell-shocked. "Yo, Roxie, anybody home?" The redhead had grabbed him by shoulders and was gently shaking him. The blonde could only whimper in reply, "I wanna go home." Sighing softly, Axel ruffled his hair. Then he placed a hand under his chin to make the blonde look up at him. "I know it's freaky, but try to stay positive." Then, whilst standing to his fullest height, he declared in a posh voice. "The great Axel shall protect thee, o holy ice _princess_."

The newest nickname shook Roxas out of his depression. "Who're you calling an ice princess!" The lanky youth simply answered, "You." With another wink, he sauntered off to the next door. _He's so infuriating. Ugh._

They past another dozen doors or so. They weren't scary like the shark, but still totally insane. From an apparently retired plant, talking about 'youngsters these days, using fertilizers and stuff, instead of growing by own force like back in the good old days'. To a starfish who's biggest dream was to travel in a spaceship and visit his 'cousins' in the night sky. The only logical things was that they all had something to do with plants and animals.

Like the butterfly lady.

The latest room was covered with butterflies and some kind of silk threads. And birdcages. _Big_ birdcages considering they could fit an entire human. _Is that a mohawk? _"Demyx? You got yourself caught _again_?" Axel sounded a bit frustrated. "Just get me out," The guy, apparently named Demyx, whined.

"Not so fast, darlings."

A woman suddenly appeared. She was totally in white; clothes, hair and even skin. Only her eyes were purple. The lady was wearing a corset, in contrast with her wide skirts. The style reminded Roxas of what women would wear the 16th and 17th century in Europe. Butterfly shapes were pinned all over her dress and hair. She would have been a beautiful woman, if the chilling look in her eyes hadn't destroyed any charm the lady could have had.

A golden key hang on her neck as a necklace. _How are we supposed get that thing?_

"Now, my _dear_ lady, please just give us the key and we'll be on our way." Axel's polite words didn't correspond with his mocking tone. "Don't tick her off, Axel," Demyx whispered futilely.

The lady gave Axel a bone chilling glare before turning her gaze towards Roxas. "So there's a new victim, I see." The blonde couldn't help himself from flinching under her purple eyes. "Don't even lay a finger on him, you old hag," Axel spat. He had positioned himself between the white lady and Roxas, protectively. Demyx softly muttered, "Now you've done it."

"Old hag!? I'll teach you a lesson, pitiful mortal!"

The white butterflies which had been calmly flying through the room, suddenly regained their colours. Then they started flying through the room in a frantic dance. Brilliant colours were everywhere as the butterflies buzzed 'round Axel and Roxas, rendering them blind. After hearing a click, the duo could see again.

"Join the club," Demyx mocked.

Axel and Roxas were each trapped in a separate cage like Demyx. With the butterfly lady glaring at them smugly. "Now, my darlings, you will become the food for my lovely butterflies."

"Flesh eating butterflies? This place is so freakin' weird," Roxas said. He tried to break the bars of his cage, which seemed to be made of out silk. The kind of silk a caterpillar could weave. It was a lot stronger than it looked though; he couldn't break the bars.

Roxas looked up as he heard another click, but it was a different sound than he had heard before. Looking to his right he saw Axel holding a lighter, as Demyx sighed, "Times like these I'm glad you're a pyro, Axel." The redhead only smirked as he lit the bars of his cage, watching them burn and break. Quickly he was free from his prison and set fire to some of the threads which were hung throughout the room. Soon flames were everywhere and the butterflies were desperately trying to evade the flames. As the white lady shrieked, Axel quickly released Roxas and Demyx from their cages.

They still needed the key though. Which hung on the lady's neck.

"Give us the key and we'll spare the rest of your room," Axel said to the lady, with a wicked grin on his face as he held the lighter close to some more threads. Her butterflies were now in such a blind panic that they were hitting against the walls and furniture in the room.

"Or we could just burn down the entire room," Axel mocked as the lady didn't reply.

With another bone chilling glare the lady reached to her neck and grabbed the key. "Throw it to me," the redhead ordered. He held his lighter even closer to the threads when she didn't move. "Fine, fine," she spat and threw the key to Axel's outstretched hand.

"Pleasure doing business with ya, my dear."

* * *

When the trio had left the room, Demyx turned to Roxas with a megawatt smile on his face. "Hi, I'm Demyx! What's your name? How long have you been here? How old are you?" The energetic guy kept shooting questions at Roxas to which the blonde could only blink in amazement. _Doesn't he ever need to catch his breath? _Axel saved him from having to answer though, as he said, "His name is Roxas, nineteen years and I found him yesterday. Now let's get going. We need to fit this key in one of the doors."

After a few tries, they found the right door and now entered another dull looking room. But it actually had furniture this time.

"Welcome to the first Rest Room, Roxie," Axel said. "It's nothing special, but at least we can eat something and get some sleep. Are you hungry?" At the mention of food Roxas' stomach let loose a loud growl. "Haha, I guess you are." The blonde could only blush in reply.

Dinner wasn't very special, but at least it was edible. Demyx mentioned that the food would get better in the 'second' Rest Room.

"Second?" Roxas questioned.

"Ah, you don't how the system works yet? I'll explain it," Demyx replied. "As far as we know, there are four different Rest Rooms. To which room you have access, depends on the level you're in. The first one appears when you're between the levels one to five. The second between five to ten. The third between ten to fifteen and the fourth between fifteen to twenty. The higher the restroom, the more luxuries it has."

Axel stretched out his arms lazily when he said, "The second Rest Room has a small television, radio and a nice bath. That's why I want to hurry up and pass level five, blondie." He gave Roxas a suggestive look as he mentioned the bath. Demyx lightly hit the redhead on the back of head, as he scolded, "Don't be such a pervert, Axel." Then the hyperactive man continued his explanation.

"The levels one to five never change. There's only one possibility for each level. You can enter with as many people as you want at the same time. So I'll join you guys for level four and five," Demyx smiled. "From the levels five to ten, each levels has three different possibilities. Meaning, if you enter a level, you don't know which of the three possibilities you'll get. You can enter with a maximum of four people at the same time. So if there are five people in the same level, then four can go towards the same possibility but the fifth one has to enter a different one."

"The levels ten to fifteen have twenty possibilities, and fifteen to twenty seems to have an infinitive amount. That's one more reason why we think there are only twenty levels," Demyx finished.

Roxas was slowly trying to digest all this new information. _Why would someone take the time to make such a complex system? _"Who made this? Who is keeping us trapped here?"

Axel and Demyx looked at each other with empty smiles. "We don't know, unfortunately," The redhead finally said.

"How long have you been trapped here?"

"Roughly two years. The first six _subjects _have been here for four years," Axel answered, fixedly looking at his dinner to avoid Roxas shocked gaze. _Four years?! _The blond paled visibly. _I'll never get out of here. _

The room was silent until Demyx suddenly spoke up, "So Roxas, why don't you tell us some stuff about Twilight Town. I want to know what's changed." His smile didn't quite reach his eyes, but Roxas knew the mohawked man was trying to lift the mood, so he started talking about the town.

All in all, dinner was interesting. The newest addition was proving to be a very nice, energetic guy and Axel kept shooting Roxas glances which made his stomach twist in a strangely nice way. _Well, this explains why I've never been interested in girls before… _After eating, they turned to bed early, because they had a busy day ahead of them. Demyx seemed to be looking forward to it, muttering something about finally getting to swim for the first time in ages.

Roxas closed his eyes to sleep, feeling a lot better than yesterday. He might be stuck in some kind of psychological game, but at least wasn't playing on his own anymore.

**

* * *

Day 1462****. **

**Subjects VIII and XIII have passed Level 1 and 2.****  
Subjects VIII, IX and XIII have passed Level 3.**

**Subject I has failed at Level 18. I has been relocated to Level 15.  
Subject VI has failed at Level 13. VI has been relocated to Level 10.  
Subject VII has failed at Level 18. VII has been relocated to Level 15.**

**Current Level of subjects:  
I – 15  
II – 17  
III – 9  
IV – 13**

**V ****– 18  
VI – 10  
VII – 15  
VIII – 3  
IX – 3  
X – 16  
XI – 7  
XII – 7  
XIII - 3**

_**

* * *

Author's note**__: The tree in the maze was shaped like the Nobody symbol, by the way. _

_Okay. I ha__d promised Zexion would appear too, but my own created rules wouldn't allow it. *sweatdrop* He'll appear once they've reached the second Rest Room. Which should be in chapter 4. _

_(As you can see in the report, if you fail a level, you return to Level 1, 5, 10 or 15, depending which levels you've passed. For example, if you fail at level 13 like Zexy, then you return to 10. He failed for a reason though ;D) _

_Please review._


	3. Drowning Angel

_**Author's note**__: Thinking of new levels is going to be the end of me xD If you guys have any ideas for a scenery, challenge etc, feel free to share :D _

_As always the parts in italics (expect for the a/n of course) are Roxas' thoughts. _

_Anyway, here's the next chapter. Namine decides to show up; Roxas, Axel and Demyx take on level 4 and 5 and Zexion makes a small appearance. _

**

* * *

**

**Abyss**

Chapter 3 – Drowning Angel

* * *

A little blonde girl was calmly drawing in her sketchbook. If you would've looked over her shoulder, you could've seen the beautiful image of a lake. The girl grabbed a purple pencil and started colouring the jewels lying on the bottom of the lake.

The room was silent save for the sound of pencils softly brushing over paper.

Big blue eyes were focused on the paper but there was a distinctive sadness hidden beneath them. Hidden far deeper than the jewels in the depths of the imaginary lake.

The little girl just kept on drawing…

* * *

"Wake up, sleepy head!"

Roxas was not amused when he was woken up by a very energetic Demyx. _Of course he's a morning person. _Dragging himself out of bed, the blonde saw Axel making breakfast. After muttering a 'good morning' he dropped his head on the kitchen table with a thud.

"Mornin', Roxie. Did you sleep well?" The redhead asked. The answer seemed obvious as the blonde was pretty much falling back asleep on the table.

"Not enough sleep," Roxas mumbled. His dreams had been filled with clowns, flesh-eating butterflies and chilling purple eyes. He had been tempted to just crawl into the redhead's bed for comfort but had managed to resist the urge. He wasn't sure if he would be able to keep it up though. They had all shared the same room, with Axel's bed only inches from his own.

Trying to keep his mind off his nightly horrors, Roxas asked, "What are the next two levels like?"

"The fourth level is in a church. It's quite a _heavenly_ experience," answered Axel mockingly. "Your sword skills will come in handy. That's really all you need to know."

Roxas didn't feel like he was going to like that level. "What about the fifth one?"

Demyx stopped attacking his breakfast for a second to answer with huge smile on his face. "The fifth level has a beautiful forest with a large lake. We need to dive up the jewels on the bottom of it." The mohawk-haired man closed his eyes as if to picture the view and looked like if he was in pure bliss. Roxas blinked at the sight and looked to Axel for an explanation.

"Demyx likes swimming," Axel deadpanned. It sounded like quite an understatement.

"Just diving it up? That sounds easy," Roxas said. "There's a catch isn't there?" Axel just nodded before he took another bite out of his breakfast. "Aren't you going to tell me what it is?" The blonde asked when the tattooed man made no attempt to speak.

The redhead sighed, "We'll have time for a Q&A when we get there. Let's just enjoy breakfast for now."

* * *

After the trio had finished eating breakfast, taking showers and were now lounging a bit on the couch, a computer voice rang through the room. Scaring the hell out of Roxas, as usual. And while Axel and Demyx were cracking up over the blonde's 'masculine' squeal, the voice played its message.

"Good morning, subjects VIII, IX and XIII." The lights went off and on, revealing a bare room with a staircase. "You will now advance towards Level 4."

After ascending the stairs, they stood outside an abandoned church. It looked ancient and almost all the windows were broken, yet it still maintained an impressive presence. With a sigh, Axel turned to Roxas and said, "Okay, once we step in here, just grab the nearest candlestick you can find. They're very tall." The redhead looked Roxas over. "Heh, they're probably taller than you. They make good weapons."

After blinking in surprise at the strange order, Roxas nodded and the trio entered the church.

Light filtered through the broken windows, giving the church an ethereal atmosphere. A huge organ filled the room. It looked in perfect shape, which was weird considering the church had seemed abandoned. There were statues everywhere. The marble sculptures had immense wings and were dressed in some kind of warrior outfit. They looked like a cross between angels and warrior goddesses. Every part of them was carved in great detail, making them look almost real.

A little too real, as Roxas was going to find out.

The moment the trio stepped into the church, the organ started playing a tune, all on its own. The music seemed to awaken the dozen of statues scattered throughout the room. Lazily, all the sculptures stretched their huge wings before looking menacingly at the three young men before them. Axel and Roxas each quickly grabbed the nearest life-sized candlesticks they could find. And then the warrior angels began their attack.

"You could have been a bit more specific, you know!" Roxas grounded out as he used the candlestick to block one of the statues' attack. _Like mentioning that freaky statues were going to attack us._

Axel didn't get the chance to make a witty reply as Demyx had sneaked his way over the organ and began to match the melody, which the instrument had begun playing on its own. After a few false notes, the musician matched it perfectly and the statues stopped moving.

"Great going, Dem." The redhead didn't keep his eyes of the now motionless statues as he spoke to Roxas, "The statues remain frozen as long as Demyx matches the melody. In the meantime we need to find the _correct_ key." Which was going to be quite a problem seeing that all the angels were wearing a key, strapped around their waist with a simple rope.

"A fake key turns to dust the moment you touch it. However, reaching for one lowers your defence and if Demyx plays a false note…" Axel didn't need to finish his sentence. One false note and the statues would be able to move again. Capable of attacking their momentary lowered guard.

Both had turned four fake keys to dust, when the organ suddenly changed to another melody. Demyx wasn't able to keep up so fast and the statues regained their mobility.

Surprised by the sudden movement, Roxas could only dive to the side as one of the angel-like statues aimed for his head. He'd evaded the attack, but had lost his weapon. The angel quickly moved in for another strike but was broken to pieces by a very infuriated Axel.

"I told you to keep your guard up, damn it!" The redhead yelled. Roxas would've felt mad at being yelled at if he hadn't noticed the anxious concern crossed across Axel's features. Scrambling up from the ground, he grabbed the fallen candlestick and fended off more attacks.

Luckily, Demyx could match the new melody after a few minutes and the sculptures became frozen again. Another four keys were turned to dust, before Roxas was holding the correct key.

"Where's the key lock?" The blonde asked. He put the key in one of his pockets to keep both his hands usable for attack.

"On the other side of the orga-" Axel was cut off when the organ began another new melody. Ready this time, both prepared themselves for more attacks. But this time one of the angels focused his gaze on the unsuspecting musician.

Unable to move forward to help because of the other statues blocking their path, Roxas could only yell a warning, "Demyx! Look out!"

Demyx turned around, startled. The angel moved in for the kill, but the mohawked man grabbed one of the stones littered on the floor and hit the angel full in the face. Scattering it to pieces. "I still got it," he said with a wide grin. "Throw me the key, Roxas!"

Roxas was still shocked by the counterattack of the man he had deemed harmless, but dug up the key from his pockets and threw it to Demyx.

Demyx caught the key easily and moved to the left side of the organ, fitting it in the keyhole. Grabbing some more rocks, he threw them at the winged statues, with surprising accuracy. This way Axel and Roxas could reach the new opening without being overwhelmed by the sculptures.

All three of them passed through the opening into a new room.

* * *

It was another bland waiting room.

"Congratulations. You have passed Level 4." The computer played its mandatory message. Not scaring the life out of Roxas for the first time.

The blonde was too busy feeling embarrassed about underestimating Demyx. _I thought he wouldn't be able to even lift those stones. Let alone throw them for meters with perfect aim. _He looked at the musician who was now wearing a very big smile. In sharp contrast to a certain redhead, who seemed to be sulking. "What's going on?" he asked.

"I hate water." "I love water."

The two sentences were said at the same time and Roxas couldn't keep himself from laughing slightly. Axel and Demyx both looked like little children. One very happy kid, and one very disgruntled brat.

"Are you laughing at us, Roxie?" Axel said with a pout. He put his hand on Roxas' head and messed up his hair. "That's not very nice." He couldn't keep himself from grinning along though. The blonde looked so cute when he was trying to suppress his laughter. The poor thing really didn't smile enough.

The computer finished its message in the meantime. "You may now continue to Level 5." A stairwell reaching to the new level appeared.

* * *

Demyx pretty much bounced up the stairs, happily humming a song. Axel and Roxas followed at a more mellow pace.

The newest room was indeed a forest with a huge lake. It was a sparkling and mesmerizing sight. The scenery was stuck in a permanent night time, with the moon and stars looking down on the forest. A blue hue filled the air as there were blue glittering diamonds everywhere; in the water, on the leaves and flowers. Red jewel orbs were scattered on the bottom of the lake. The ruby colour was in stark contrast with the blue scenery.

The entire forest was silent. The water was still and not a single animal could be seen or heard. Everything was tranquil. The sight left Roxas speechless as he watched in awe. Blue eyes sparkling like the diamonds scattered throughout the forest.

And then Demyx dove into the water with a huge splash. So much for tranquillity.

"There are ten orbs in the lake, of which five are the ones we need," Axel had apparently decided it was time for some explanations. "If you grab the correct orb then you can just swim up to the surface and bring it on land. But if you pick the wrong one…" As the redhead had droned on, Demyx had grabbed one of the orbs. But as soon as he had, the orb lost its ruby colour and turned blue. "…Well, just watch and see."

Suddenly the temperature in the room dove down. At the same time, the lake's liquid surface turned to ice.

Trapping Demyx underneath it.

Roxas started running towards the lake to save the swimmer, but Axel grabbed his wrist and held him back. "The surface will return to normal in three minutes," Axel explained when the blonde glared at him. "Demyx is an experienced diver. Three minutes is easy for him, so don't worry."

Relieved, the blue-eyed blonde let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. And yes, after three minutes the surface returned to normal and Demyx swam back to shore.

"So who's next?" The now drenched man asked.

_If he likes this so much, then can't he just go again? _Axel made Roxas feel the man had to be some kind of mind reader when he told Roxas, "If the same person is wrong, twice in a row, then the lake stays frozen for three times as long. So if one of us makes a mistake, then we alternate." He looked at the water in distaste, as he muttered, "I love fire, _not_ water, damn it."

"I'll do it," Roxas said with determination. "Three minutes isn't that long, right?"

Axel eyed him uncertainly. "Are you sure?," he asked. "I can do it, if you want." But Roxas shook his head and started walking towards the lake.

_I need to do something back. Axel has already saved me countless of times in just two days. _The blonde dove into the water and swam towards the nearest red orb. Hesitantly he grabbed the round jewel, but when nothing happened, he quickly swam back to the shore.

Demyx ran up to him and cheered, "Great job, Roxas." Then he asked, "Do you want me to go again? You can keep swimming until you make a mistake, but-"

Axel cut him off sharply, "You swim, Demyx." Roxas looked at him, feeling hurt. _Does he think I can't handle it? _"Don't give me that look, Roxie. Three minutes is longer than you think." The blonde didn't look convinced. "Hey, I just want to make sure you're alright. Is it a crime to care about you?" Big blue eyes widened at that reply.

"I, uh..uhh," Roxas wasn't sure how he was supposed to reply to that. Especially when Axel's green eyes were looking at him so intensely. He could feel his face heat up as a blush covered his cheeks.

The moment was broken by Demyx giggling at them, "So when's the wedding?"

Roxas could only make a strangled noise at the comment, but Axel smirked as he said, "Roxie, would look good in a dress, eh?" The blush wasn't going anywhere with the redhead talking like that, so the blonde quickly punched the mocking man on the shoulder with a glare. Chuckling silently, Axel took pity on the flustered boy and motioned for Demyx to start swimming.

* * *

Demyx got three more orbs, before he lost again. This time, Axel decided to face the water. Only to lose as well. He looked like a drowned cat when he finally got out of the water. Pretty much hissed like one too. _I should probably take pity on him, but he looks so funny. Haha. _

"Will Demyx go again now?" Roxas asked, trying to suppress his laughter.

Axel sighed, "No can do. We switched because if a person takes two turns after losing the first, he faces triple penalty, right?" Roxas nodded. "Well, if the next person also chooses a wrong orb, then both swimmers will face a triple length of 'frozen' time."

"You mean, that if either you or Demyx dive again, you'll be stuck for nine minutes if you pick wrong again?" Roxas asked. They both nodded. "Okay, then I'll go. We have four orbs, and have chosen three wrong ones. That means there are still three possibilities left."

The redhead didn't look happy about it, but agreed. Demyx might be good, but nine minutes would be pushing it, even for him.

Roxas took a deep breath before he dove in. The last three orbs were the most far away; he could feel himself running slightly out of breath when he had almost reached one of the orbs. _I'll just take another breath, before touching the orb. _But, when he moved to reach to surface, the lake suddenly froze over. Trapping him underwater.

"Roxas!" Axel called out. "Damn, he didn't know that if you try to surface before touching a orb, it also freezes over." He pushed his fist into the nearest tree. "We should've told him!"

"If he grasps the right orb, then he can surface again," Demyx tried hopefully. Axel just gave him a fearful look, one that clearly said 'and if he doesn't?'.

* * *

The blonde had already picked up on Demyx's train of thought and was quickly swimming towards hopefully the right orb. When the surface had suddenly frozen over, Roxas had been so surprised that he had opened his mouth, letting the water in and his breath out. He needed air desperately.

He touched the orb, hoping to whatever god out there, it would be the right one. No such luck. The orb lost its red shine, showing it was a wrong one. _I can't last another three minutes! _

The boy swam back to the ice, pounding on it in a desperate attempt to break it. But it wouldn't budge. Roxas felt pain shoot throughout his body as it screamed out for air. Softly, he could hear hammering from the surface as Axel and Demyx were pounding on the ice from the other side to try and free the blonde. But the noise sounded distant as Roxas could feel himself slip out of consciousness. _I'm drowning…dying…_

Slowly his vision was going dark, but out of the blue he saw a little blonde girl appear in the water. She wasn't getting wet, but was just floating there. Then the girl showed him a sketch; on the paper was a lake, a frozen-over lake. Then she swept her black pencil above the drawn ice, making it look like it had cracked. Her blue eyes smiled softly at him before strong arms pulled him out of the water.

* * *

"Roxas! Breathe, damn it! Breathe!" Roxas distantly registered Axel yelling at him as he coughed up what seemed litres of water. He wasn't sure if it was water or tears on his cheeks, his whole body hurt so much that he just wanted to curl up in a ball and sob. Neither Demyx or Axel would allow that though as they pulled him into a sitting position, forcing him to look at two very frightened faces.

"Are you alright? Can you breathe properly?" Demyx asked anxiously. Roxas could only nod as he gulped up the air his body was screaming for. Axel was softly rubbing his back, looking equally worried.

"Demyx, get the last orb and fit them together to release the key," Axel said. "No way we're going to do this all over again." Demyx nodded and dove through one of the cracked parts to reach the orb.

The redhead cupped Roxas' cheek as he looked at him, eyes serious. Once he was certain the blonde was going to be alright, he pinched him in his cheek and said, "You're lucky we could break the ice in time. Any longer and you would've…" Axel couldn't finish the sentence.

"Didn't you see her?" Roxas asked with a raspy voice. _She broke the ice. Not you or Demyx. _It didn't make any sense, but nothing in this place did.

"See who?" Axel asked with a confused look in his eyes.

"That blonde girl. She was holding a drawing of this place and-" The blonde was caught in a coughing fit before he could finish his sentence.

Rubbing his back again, Axel just looked at Roxas with a soft gaze. "There wasn't anyone, you probably made her up because of the lack of oxygen."

The drenched boy wanted to argue that statement, but realized it wouldn't do any good. A girl appearing underwater, totally dry, and cracking the ice by just drawing a crack? No, Axel wouldn't believe that. He shouldn't believe it either, but he _knew_ she had been there.

"Okay, I got the key," Demyx said as he walked back towards Axel and Roxas. He still looked very worried.

Roxas sighed as he said, "I'm alright, Demyx. Stop worrying." He tried to stand up, but Axel wouldn't allow it. In one sweep, he folded Roxas in his arm, bridal-style. "Put me down!" Roxas commanded, looking very flustered. Axel just gave him a disbelieving look.

"If you think you're walking anywhere right now, then you're mistaken." His tone didn't leave any room for argument.

Demyx piped in, "Like we said before, after finishing level five you can rest whenever you finish one level." He turned the key into the lock that was hidden in one of the trees.

* * *

"Welcome to the second Rest Room, Roxie," Axel said after entering the new room with Roxas in his arms.

The new Rest Room was a lot more inviting than the first one. A small television was centred in the living room, surrounded by comfy couches. It had a kitchen filled with delicious food instead of just bread and water. And the bathroom had a warm bath, which the freezing blonde was going to use.

The trio weren't the only ones in the room though. A short man with dark blue hair slated over his right eye sat comfortably on one of the couches with a book in his hands. His one visible eye looked at them as they entered the new room.

"Zexy!" Demyx cried out as he tried to hug the smaller man. But the man just closed his book and hit Demyx lightly with it on the head.

"Don't call me that," He calmly reprimanded. Demyx just pouted, whining about how mean 'Zexy' was.

The way everyone just ignored Demyx's whining, Roxas felt that this had to be some kind of routine. The blue-haired man focused his attention to the blonde and Roxas realised he was still in Axel's arms. _Well, this is awkward…_

Axel decided to break the silence –the musician's whining didn't seem to count since it was ignored– and said, "Roxie, meet Zexion. Zexion meet Roxas, our latest cute addition."

After scrutinizing Roxas under his stare, Zexion gave a curt nod. Then he said, "You should probably get him in the bath, if you don't want him to get a cold." The blonde was shivering uncontrollably by now. The water in the lake had been really cold.

"Always the smart one, eh?" Axel replied, then he carried Roxas over to the bathroom. Carefully putting Roxas down on the tiles of the bathroom, the redhead moved to prepare a hot bath. The blonde could only sit there and watch, his limbs felt frozen. After laying out some towels, Axel turned to the shivering boy and smiled encouragingly. Then his smile turned to a devious smirk. "Time to get you of those wet clothes, Roxie."

_What!? _Roxas felt some heat return to his face as he blushed fiercely. "I c-can do t-that mys-self, Axel-l," he stuttered out, teeth clapping by the cold.

"No, you can't. You can hardly move your body, Roxie," Axel replied. His smirked widened, before he continued, "Don't worry, Roxie. I won't molest you." A pause. "Much." The redhead then calmly proceeded to strip Roxas down to his boxers. Warm hands pausing on the blonde's skin longer than necessary.

Then there was knock on the door, freeing Roxas of the redhead's smouldering gaze and Demyx appeared to hand over a pair of pyjama's. Axel handed the musician Roxas' clothes for Demyx to hang up to dry.

Turning back to Roxas, the redhead picked up the flustered blonde and placed him on the edge of the warm bath. "You can ditch that last piece of clothing yourself, Roxie," He winked. "Enjoy your bath." And with that he left the room. Leaving Roxas to slowly warm up again. Though his face really didn't need any more heating.

* * *

After having the feeling return to his limbs, Roxas got out of the bath, dried off and tried on the pyjamas Demyx had brought him. They were far too big. The pants wouldn't even stay up; his hips were too narrow. With a sigh, the blonde decided to ditch the pants and just wear the shirt. It was so long that it almost came to his knees anyway.

He wanted to enter the living room, when he overheard the other three in the middle of a conversation.

"Why did you drop so low, Zexy? Last time I saw you, you were above level ten," Demyx asked.

When the blue-haired man made no move to answer, Axel cut in, "You failed on purpose, right? To join Dem here." He grinned at the slight twitch that Zexion gave at his comment. Then the smaller man just sneered back.

"Like you have a right to talk. You were at level _seventeen_, but returned to level one to save the new kid," Zexion said. "You've never failed a level to save someone before, Axel."

The redhead didn't seem to have a reply and just turned his head away. Roxas felt his stomach make a pleasant twist at that new information. _He was so close to the twentieth level, but chose to save me instead? _

Demyx interrupted Roxas' musings when noticed the blonde standing near the door and said, "Hey, Roxas. Did you enjoy your bath?"

Before Roxas could reply though, Axel looked him over, "What happened to your pants, blondie?" That infamous smirk of his had worked its way up his lips again at the sight. The blonde really looked adorable with fluffy towel-dried hair and an overgrown shirt. Especially when he blushed at the inquiry.

"They wouldn't stay up," Roxas muttered, feeling embarrassed. The redhead chuckled at the reply.

Zexion cut in, "You should get to sleep. To allow your body to recover and stay warm under the blankets." Axel nodded and led the blonde to one of the bedrooms.

"We won't all have to sleep in the same room anymore. There are only two-persons bedrooms now." The redhead smiled down at Roxas. "We'll share rooms if that's okay with you."

"That's fine", Roxas replied as he stepped into the bedroom. _As long as I can resist crawling into your bed after more nightmares… _

Axel's smile broadened slightly at the reply. "I'll join you in a minute. Wouldn't want to risk waking the others." Roxas looked questionably at the redhead when he said 'others'. "Marluxia, Larxene and Xaldin are here too, but they're already asleep. You'll see them in the morning," he explained.

The blonde crawled under the warm covers of his bed when Axel left and closed his eyes. He wasn't allowed to sleep peacefully though, minutes later he awoke from a nightmare. Shivering, Roxas looked to his left and saw Axel, in bed, staring at the ceiling with his hands behind his head.

"Can't sleep, blondie?" The redhead asked. He turned his head to look Roxas in the eye but the latter turned his head away. With a sigh, he said, "You're probably still cold, right? Just come over here." He motioned with his finger for the blonde to join him in the bed.

Both knew the cold was just an excuse, but Roxas gratefully joined Axel in the bed. Feeling a lot more secure when one lanky arm came to rest on his waist.

"Just sleep," Axel muttered as he drew the blonde a little closer. Roxas' eyes fluttered closed on their own in a matter of seconds.

**

* * *

Day 1463****. **

**Subjects VIII, IX and XIII have passed Level 4 and 5.  
****Subject II has failed at Level 17. II has been relocated to Level 15.  
****Subject VI has failed at Level 10. VI has been relocated to Level 5.  
****Subject XI has failed at Level 7. XI has been relocated to Level 5.  
Subject XII has failed at Level 7. XII has been relocated to Level 5.  
**

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: Level 5 seems**** to have malfunctioned. The lake will have to be reconstructed. **

**Current Level of subjects:  
I – 16  
II – 15  
III – 9  
IV – 14  
****V – 19  
VI – 5  
VII – 16  
VIII – 5  
IX – 5  
X – 17  
XI – 5  
XII – 5  
XIII - 5**

_**

* * *

Author's note**__: Yay, cuddling :D now I'll feel less bad for almost drowning poor Roxie._

_If any of you played Final __Fantasy X, then imagine the fifth level to look like Macalania Forest's lake. That's where I borrowed (read: stole) my inspiration from ;D _

_Next chapter Axel, Roxas, Demyx and Zexion will take on level 6 together. Filled with stalking dolls ;D  
__(Marluxia and Larxene will also take on level 6, but there are 3 different possibilities now, remember? They'll join Axel and Roxas in level 7, while Demy and Zexy go on their own then.) _

_Please review. _


	4. Won't you play with Me?

_**Author's note**__: Sorry, this update was little late, but I had to write two papers for university, which kept me busy . Anyway, our fearless foursome takes on another level, filled with creepy dolls and a bratty child. And does Zexion know more than he lets on…? _

_As always, the parts in italics are Roxas' direct thoughts. _

_Thanks for the reviews everyone :D They're a good stimulant to keep writing. And since I can't reply to 'anonymous' reviews, I'll do it here: yeah, the idea is somewhat like Castle Oblivion, with its levels and stairs. And Namine tries to help out when things get really serious, but she's not always able to. She finds it easier to connect to Roxas, but she didn't 'choose' him per se._

_And I changed the time-limit in chapter 3, five minutes was a bit too long. My thanks to Aindel S. Druida and the anonymous reviewer for answering my questions about it. _

**

* * *

**

**Abyss**

Chapter 4 – Won't you play with me?

* * *

Roxas woke up to the feeling of someone caressing his hair. He leaned into the sensation, his eyes closed. Above him, he heard a soft chuckle, making him suddenly remember in whose bed he was laying. Quickly opening his big blue eyes, Roxas found himself face to face with a grinning Axel. A _shirtless_ grinning Axel. "G-good morning," he managed to stutter out, face heating up.

The redhead's grin widened as he saw the blush creep up the blonde's face. The boy was looking everywhere but at Axel, desperately trying not to look at the half naked man before him. With tussled hair and the overgrown shirt shifted, exposing one pale shoulder, Roxas looked so touchable that Axel couldn't resist torturing him a little.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. Are you getting a fever?" His hand was placed on Roxas' forehead. "You're looking all flushed." The hand shifted to the boy's cheek, caressing the smooth skin.

"I'm f-fine," Roxas stuttered out. Green eyes were burning into his own blue ones, making the blonde struggle to think straight.

The redhead's warm hand was travelling down Roxas' neck when suddenly Demyx's voice rang through the Rest Room, yelling that breakfast was starting. The spell broken, Axel sighed and grabbed the blonde's wrist, dragging the both of them out of bed to the kitchen.

Roxas wasn't sure whether he was relieved or disappointed by the interruption. _That man is too attractive for his own good. _His skin still burned from where the redhead had touched him.

When the pair reached the kitchen, Demyx and Zexion were already sitting there, engaged in conversation. Or more like; Demyx was talking animatedly and Zexion just nodded occasionally. The moment Demyx noticed Roxas walk into the room, he showered him with questions; "Are you feeling better? Does it still hurt? Should you be walking?"

"I'm fine, really," Roxas answered. The blonde was still feeling a bit sore, especially his throat felt like sandpaper, but the night's rest had done wonders to the most of the pain. And he hadn't had a single nightmare after crawling in the same bed as Axel. He felt his face heat up slightly at the memory. _Curse my fair complexion._

"So who's our newest toy?"

A cold female voice cut through the room. When Roxas turned around, he saw a woman with blonde hair and an icy look in her eyes. _Note to self: don't mess with her. _Next to the woman, stood a man with long pink hair. Roxas blinked. _Pink? _The man also had a mean look in his eyes, but it wasn't as scary as the woman's. It looked more like he was scheming something.

"Larxene, how _nice_ to see you again," Axel responded. The sarcasm was dripping off his voice. "His name is Roxas." The redhead looked at Roxas and then gestured to the two with his hands, "Roxas, meet Larxene and Marluxia. Our own little witch and magical fairy."

"Shut up, Axel. Or I'll turn you into a toad," Larxene sneered.

After this little introduction, Roxas wasn't very surprised when breakfast consisted of Larxene and Axel shooting sniping comments back and forth. It was actually quite amusing to watch, but he carefully kept on a neutral face. He didn't want the witch to turn her sights on him.

* * *

Having eaten and gotten dressed, six people were ready to go. The man, which Axel had called Xaldin, had already gone ahead to his tenth level.

"Welcome, subjects VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII and XIII. You will advance towards Level 6. There are three possibilities. Please decide with whom you will take on the level. Four persons per possibility is the maximum," the computer said. Three doors appeared before them.

With one last sneer from the witch; "don't miss us too much, sweeties", Larxene and Marluxia walked through one of the doors.

Axel turned to the remaining three persons, "Let's all go on this one together, okay?"

Everyone nodded, and the foursome approached a different door. The scenery changed until they were inside the hall of an old mansion. A big chandelier hung from the high ceiling. The person who would've lived here, would've been very rich. _If any of this had been real… _Roxas looked at Axel for some explanation about this level, but the redhead shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry, blondie. I've never been to this level possibility," Axel answered. "What about you two?" The redhead asked Demyx and Zexion. But they both shook their heads. "Guess, we'll have to figure out what this level's goal is then." With a toothy grin, he walked towards the door on his right and opened it.

The foursome entered what seemed to be a dining room. An endless table was in the middle of the room. It must've been able to seat at least thirty people.

But it weren't _people_ sitting in the chairs.

Roxas stifled a groan. Everywhere in the room were life-sized porcelain dolls. The ones sitting in the chairs were all wearing purple evening gowns. Several other where spread towards the room with maid costumes on, as if to represent servants and guests. Dozens of lifeless glass eyes were staring into nothingness. It was downright creepy. _Why waste the time putting all these dolls here? _

"…Okay, let's go to another room," Demyx suggested. His pale face showed that he was also creeped out by the dozens of dolls.

Every room they entered, was crowded with dolls. They were all the same standard model, but with altered hair and clothing to show their purpose in the house. Big glass eyes everywhere. Roxas was glad those dead eyes weren't focused on him.

"How many rooms does this place have? We've been through dozens by now," Demyx complained. "And those dolls are going to give me nightmares!" He shivered.

Axel winked at him, "Ah, Zexion will protect you." The blue-haired man purposely ignored that comment.

"Like you'll protect Roxas?" Demyx winked back.

Roxas felt his face heat up yet again, as he was reminded of last night. Especially when Axel shot him a knowing look, before smirking at him. His blush died away, when he saw Zexion reach for a door they had already entered. "Ehm, Zexion we've already…"

"I know," Zexion answered. "I just want to check something."

The four of them were back in the dining room, but something felt off. Then they all looked at the empty seat near the table. The last time they had been in this room, all the seats had been filled. Which meant at least one of the dolls…

Had moved.

Axel, Demyx and Roxas quickly surveyed the room, but all the dolls were still. The trio was tense, but Zexion just turned back towards the room. "Just like I suspected." The blue-haired man calmly said. "It wouldn't have been much of a level if the dolls couldn't do anything. Now, let's go find the key."

Roxas could only blink at Zexion's unruffled attitude, "Eh, but..shouldn't…?" He stumbled on his words.

With a sigh, Axel weaved a hand through his hair and said, "Right, let's go." When Roxas just kept blinking, he grabbed the blonde's wrist and tugged him out of the room. "Don't expect to ever see anything faze Zexion. He's one calm guy." He smiled encouragingly, before ruffling the Roxas' hair. "Just go with it."

* * *

The mansion was huge, but with each new room, Roxas was starting to become more and more claustrophobic. He could _feel_ them watching, dead eyes focused on his back. Yet every time he turned around those eyes were gazing into thin air. The others were getting increasingly nervous as well. One of Axel's hands had grasped Roxas' hand and the other was grasping a iron pipe that had been lying around in one of the rooms. Demyx had also gotten himself a weapon, and Zexion's eyes kept scanning every inch in the rooms.

Suddenly there was a loud thud.

Startled, the foursome turned towards the noise. A single candle was lying on the floor. There was doll standing near the table it must've fallen off, but had the candle been pushed or fallen on its own…? Another thud was heard, but this time it sounded more like a footstep.

Turning around, Roxas found himself face to face with a pair of glass eyes. Letting out a squeak, the blonde quickly took a step back. Then he could feel Axel wrap one of his arms around his waist, the redhead's other hand ready to strike. But the doll made no move.

Zexion broke the silence, "If they're starting to get bolder, that must mean we're getting closer to the key."

The blue-haired opened yet another door and the others followed. Axel did not release the blonde out of his hold though. Not that Roxas minded, his heart was racing from the doll's last 'attack'.

Finally they reached a door which was different from the others. It had a little heart-shaped notice hanging on it saying 'Miya's room'. They could hear little giggles coming from the other side.

Zexion calmly knocked on the door, before asking whether they could come in. A high pitched girly voice answered him, saying that they could. Without further ado, the man opened the door, revealing a children's room. It was very different from the classic style of the rest of the manor. The room was filled with pink and there were toys everywhere. In the midst of the countless pieces of furniture sat a little girl. She must've been roughly five years. Her hair was held up in two pigtails and had all kinds of ornaments in them. The dress she was wearing was filled with frills and was a in candy pink colour.

The little girl's lips twisted into a smile when she saw the foursome. "Won't you play with me?" she asked.

Roxas decided he didn't like the girl one bit. Her smile looked more like a greedy grimace and her annoyingly high voice hurt his ears. He had the feeling that if she didn't get what she wanted, the little girl would use that voice to screech at the top of her longs._ I thought Larxene looked like a witch, but this 'Miya' seems way worse… _

When the girl looked at them expectantly, Demyx gave her a small smile. "Sure, we'll play with you."

Roxas gave him an incredulous look, but the musician nodded his head towards the right. Looking in that direction, Roxas saw that a key was hanging from one of the countless ribbons stacked throughout the room. _Right, he wants to distract her so we can get the key. _

Axel made a move towards the key, but the girl suddenly looked at the redhead with a greedy glint in her eyes. "You play too," she whined in her pitched voice. The redhead just shook his shoulders and sat down with her.

Zexion and Roxas exchanged a look and the former nodded for Roxas to grab the key.

Waiting until the girl was engrossed in some kind of game with the other two, the blonde quickly grabbed the key and dropped it in his pocket. He cleared his throat as a signal and Demyx and Axel stood up.

"Alright, sweetie. Do you know where we could find a key lock?" Axel asked.

The girl gave him another sickingly sweet smile as she answered, "In the front door."

Axel laughed sheepishly at the deadpan look on Zexion's face which clearly said that the redhead was an idiot for not figuring that one out. "Well, that would work, eh guys?" Axel scratched the back of his head with his hand. That had really been kind of obvious.

"Thanks for the help, sweetie. Now we'll need to get going," Axel said. He sounded quite relieved.

The girl glared at him though. "No," she almost screamed. "You play with me!"

Demyx let out a sigh and looked at the girl. With an even tone, he told her they couldn't stay. But the girl only started whining more. "Play with me! Play with me!" She get repeating those words as some kind of mantra.

Unable –or unwilling– to shush her, the foursome started walking back towards the door. Just before they walked out of the room, the girl stopped her tantrum to point one finger at them. "You will pay for this," she hissed with a lowered voice, suddenly sounding a lot more mature. "_They_ will make you pay."

None of them needed to guess who she meant with 'they'.

"Please tell me you remembered the way towards the main door, Zexy," Demyx whispered after they had exited the girl's room. Zexion nodded at him, and the musician let out a relieved sigh. He tensed again when the blue-haired man said they had to cross ten rooms to reach the main hall though.

Strangely they managed to pass all those ten rooms without meeting a single doll. They seemed to have vanished into thin air. Unless they had all…

Gathered in the main hall.

* * *

Roxas let out a gasp at the sight before him. About a hundred life-sized glaring dolls had gathered in the hall, blocking of the door which would complete their level. The blonde didn't know how those eyes could look so dead yet still hold so much hatred. The air in the hall seemed to have thickened by the tension, making it hard to breathe.

"Great, now what are we going to do?" Demyx asked, "We can't take on that many." He couldn't keep the panic from leaking into his voice.

It seemed the dolls had been waiting for one of them to speak, because suddenly the dolls started moving. There movements were jerky and stiff, but they were steadily approaching the foursome.

Axel and Demyx positioned themselves in a fighting stand. Roxas quickly looked around, and grabbed the nearest thing that could function as a weapon. When he looked to his right, he saw that Zexion had done the same thing.

Then the fight began.

Luckily, the doll's movements weren't fluent so they could easily be outmanoeuvred, but the foursome was still hopelessly outnumbered. The sound of crushing porcelain rang through the room as countless bodies were broken. None of the dolls seemed to care if they trampled their defeated allies' limbs.

Roxas could feel his arms getting tired. Every time he'd defeated a doll, another one would come and take its place. It was very discouraging.

Suddenly, he heard Axel shout Demyx's name.

Turning towards the sound, Roxas could see that the musician had cut himself on one of the broken porcelain shards. The cut was bleeding quite badly and Axel was trying to hold back the dolls who approached the now weakened Demyx. _We need to get out of here fast! But how?_

Then out of the corner of his eye, Roxas saw something white. He looked at the huge mirror which hung on one of the walls. Big blue eyes met blue. _It's that girl! _In the mirror was an image of the girl which had saved him in the lake. She was wearing the same white dress and her blonde hair was flung over one shoulder.

The girl pointed her finger up towards the ceiling. Roxas looked at it but didn't see anything which could be of help. He looked at her questioningly for more information. The blue eyed girl then grabbed her sketchbook and wrote something down. When she showed it again, the word 'chandelier' was scrabbled onto it. Then she gave him a sad smile and disappeared again.

_Chandelier? Why would that help!? _The blonde looked at the ceiling again. Hanging from it were four huge chandeliers. Then suddenly he realized he hadn't been paying attention to the dolls. Turning back to reality, he saw that Zexion had been blocking the dolls from attacking him.

"Well?" Zexion asked. "What did you find out?"

Moving to fight again, Roxas decided he would wonder about how Zexion had known later and simply answered, "Chandelier."

The blue-haired man laughed quietly under his breath. "Of course," he said. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Roxas could only blink at that reply, before the man started making his way over to the other side of the room. "Cover me, Roxas," Zexion said. Then he turned to shout at Axel and Demyx to step back towards a side of the room.

Axel looked like he wanted to ask why, but did as Zexion had ordered. Manoeuvring himself and Demyx to stand near one of the walls. Keeping several dolls at bay whilst doing so.

Meanwhile Zexion and Roxas had made their way over to a bunch of ropes. The blonde didn't get what the blue-haired man was going to do at first, but when he saw that the ropes were connected to the four enormous chandeliers it finally clicked. _He going to drop the chandeliers on top of the dolls. To crush them. _Roxas quickly yelled at Axel and Demyx to cover their eyes, before doing so himself.

The next thing that could be heard, was a loud crash. The sound of broken porcelain and glass pierced their ears.

When Roxas opened his eyes, he saw the fallen chandeliers had crushed most of the dolls. Only a dozen or so were still standing, looking dazed at the sudden destruction.

"Roxas, the key!" Axel said, waking the blonde out of his staring.

The foursome moved towards the door and Roxas quickly opened it. Allowing the four to leave the level.

* * *

"Congratulations, subjects VI, VIII, IX and XIII. You have passed Level 6. You may now choose to rest or continue levelling," the computer voice said.

Axel curtly answered, "Rest." He was worried about the cut in Demyx's arm. It was still bleeding badly, soaking the man's shirt in crimson blood.

"Alright. You may now enter the Rest Room."

The room changed back towards the rest room when the computer finished its message. Axel quickly dragged Demyx over to the bathroom to clean the wound. A medicine box with bandages was placed on one of the planks of the bathroom to dress the wound.

Alone in the room with Zexion, Roxas decided to ask him about the girl from the lake and the mirror. "Do you know who she is?"

Zexion didn't seem surprised by the sudden vague question and focused his one visible eye on the blonde. "What did she look like?" he asked.

"She has blonde hair, big sad blue eyes and wears a white dress," Roxas answered. "Oh, and she carries around a sketchbook."

The blue-haired man turned his gaze away from the blonde. "I don't know _who_ she is." He closed his eyes. "But I know she has some control over this game."

Roxas bit his lip in thought, "Yeah, I mean she just drew a crack and then it appeared."

"What?" Zexion had opened his eyes in surprise. "Explain."

Surprised by the other man's sudden urgency, Roxas quickly answered, "When I was trapped under the ice of the lake, she showed me a drawing of the lake." He shivered slightly at the memory of his almost drowning. "Then she drew a crack on the lake and it appeared." The blonde looked at the bathroom. "Axel and Demyx think they cracked it themselves."

"Hmm, she seems to be gaining more control," Zexion commented. "Appearing two days in a row."

"Do you know anything else about her?" Roxas asked. He had a feeling the other man knew more than he let on. _The computer called him VI. That means he's been here for four years. _

"She has a hand in the creation of new levels," Zexion answered. The blonde's eyes widened. "No, not like that. She didn't _create_ this sick game." He put his chin in his hands. "Like you said yourself, the girl looks sad. I'd say she is as trapped in here as we are."

"Then do you know who created this ga–" Roxas was cut off, when Axel and Demyx entered the room.

Zexion used their arrival to avoid the subject, asking, "How are you feeling, Demyx?" He was purposely not looking at Roxas, to which the blonde narrowed his eyes.

Demyx smiled brightly at the question. "Are you worried, Zexy? Don't try to hide it," The musician happily babbled on against the blue-haired man, moving to sit next to the silent man as they approached one of the couches.

Still slightly peeved at the interruption, Roxas was startled when Axel suddenly poked him in his cheek.

"You'll get wrinkles if you keep frowning, Roxie," the redhead mocked. He chuckled when Roxas started pouting instead. "Do you have any cuts?"

Roxas shook his head.

"Pity. I was looking forward to being your nurse, blondie," Axel smirked suggestively at Roxas. "Wouldn't you like to play doctor?"

Blushing brightly, Roxas quickly changed the conversation to a save subject, "How's Demyx's arm doing?"

"He'll be fine. The bleeding made it look worse than it was," Axel answered. "Besides" He raised his voice a bit for the other two to hear. "He has Zexion to kiss it better." The trademark smirk appeared again on his face, when he saw Zexion glower at him for that remark. Demyx just gave a little giggle.

"Let's relax and watch some television before dinner," Axel said. He turned on the little television and sat on an other couch with Roxas.

The redhead zapped between different networks, before settling on the news. It wasn't very interesting until the news-announcer started talking about a disappearance in the Twilight Town amusement park.

"The nineteen years old Roxas Kigane has been missing for three days now. He was last seen in the Twilight Town amusement park," the announcer said. In a corner of the screen, a picture of the blonde was shown. "If anyone has seen him, please notify the police." The screen then changed to show not only Roxas' photograph but also six others.

Roxas could recognize Axel, Demyx, Marluxia and Larxene in the pictures.

"The other two are Luxord and Saïx," Axel told the blonde.

"The last six 'subjects'?" Roxas asked. The redhead nodded.

Then the announcer continued, "These seven persons have gone missing over the last two years. They were all last sighted at the Twilight theme park. Please notify the police if you have any information concerning this case."

"So," Roxas began. "The last six –seven if you count me too– have been captured during the last two years." The blonde turned to look at Zexion, "But the first six have been here for four years? All of them?"

"Yeah," Axel answered. "I've talked to all the members, the first six have all been here for four years." The redhead frowned. "What are you getting at, Roxie?"

"Well, the last seven were just picked randomly over time, right? Just by passing level zero." Axel and Demyx nodded. "Then why were the first six all chosen at the same time? And why was there a two years pause in between?"

Zexion sighed, "If you think I know who caused this, then don't." He looked at the blonde. "The creator of the game probably grew bored of having the same subjects for a long time. So he 'invited' new ones."

"Did you all knew each other?" Roxas asked. "You six?" He was sure he saw Zexion tense at that question.

But Demyx seemed to have had enough. "Stop it, Roxas. You're making it seem like it's his fault." He sounded offended.

"That's not what I meant," Roxas sighed. "I…I just want to understand what the hell is going on." His voice cracked a bit. "Sorry…" _I don't want to be stuck here for years._

The look in Demyx's eyes softened at Roxas' words. "It's okay. Right, Zexy?" The addressed man nodded. "You've just gotten here, it's a lot to take in." Demyx stood up and ruffled Roxas' hair. "Now stop acting emo."

Axel smiled, "Yeah, that's Zexion's job." He ducked a pillow aimed at his head by the 'emo'.

"Haha, I'm going to make dinner. Zexy, come help me!" Demyx ordered, and the other man actually listened to him. Both trailing off to the kitchen.

Suddenly Roxas found himself alone with Axel.

"Don't look so scared, blondie," the redhead grinned.

"It would help if you didn't look at me like a cat looks at a mouse before deciding to eat it," Roxas retorted. Seriously, those green cat eyes were shining with such an intensity that Roxas found it hard to resist staring into them.

Axel licked his lips mischievously, "But you look so delicious, Roxie." He laughed out loud when the blonde blushed at the remark.

Roxas was saved from more flirtatious comments by Larxene. "I always knew you were a cannibal, Axel," the icy woman said. Marluxia trailed behind her and they both sat down on the couch, which previously had been occupied by Demyx and Zexion.

Soon it was time for dinner and the six of them exchanged details about their levels. Demyx tried to get Zexion to feed him, saying his 'severe' injuries prevented him from eating normally. But the blue-haired man reasonably replied that if Demyx could cook an entire meal, then he could manage feeding himself as well.

* * *

"Man, I'm dead tired," Axel said, when he and Roxas entered their room, ready to go to sleep. "What about you?" He asked as they both changed in their 'pyjama's'; in Roxas' case an overgrown shirt and for Axel just a pair of baggy pants.

The blonde just nodded. He felt like if his eyes were going to close any second. Until he suddenly remembered last night. _Are we going to sleep separate this time or…? _

Seeing the insecure look in Roxas' eyes as the blonde was looking alternatively between the two beds, Axel smiled softly. "We can share again if you'd like to, blondie." He saw a relieved look pass Roxas' face, before the boy quickly squashed it. "No need to act tough, Roxie. I've heard you squeak like a little girl about four times now, so it's no use."

Roxas glared at that last remark, but was willing to let it slide. He really didn't want to sleep alone tonight. The recipe for nightmares was increasing with each level; clowns, drowning, murderous dolls etc.

The duo climbed into Axel's bed and settled down for sleep. Waiting for the next disturbing day to come.

**

* * *

Day 1464****. **

**Subjects VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII and XIII have passed Level 6.**

**Subject IV has failed at Level 14. IV has been relocated to Level 10.  
****Subject V has failed at Level 19. V has been relocated to Level 15.  
**

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: Level 6 seemed to have suffered a small glitch. **

**Current Level of subjects:  
I – 17  
II – 16  
III – 10  
IV – 10  
****V – 15  
VI – 6  
VII – 17  
VIII – 6  
IX – 6  
X – 18  
XI – 6  
XII – 6  
XIII - 6**

_**

* * *

Author's note: **__This chapter feels a bit too rushed, especially the level-part (probably because it was .). I'll might edit it a bit later. Next chapter will be up somewhere this week, probably in the weekend. As long as I won't fail my papers and will have to rewrite them…*crosses fingers*_

_Next chapter Larxene and Marluxia join Axel and Roxas for level 7. __In which the stress finally catches up to our poor blonde, but he has Axel to kiss it better ;D_

_Please review if you liked it (or if you didn't ;D) _


	5. Survival of the Fittest

_**Author's note**__: This chapter: Marluxia insists on having him and Larxene join Axel and Roxas for the same level, but why..? More answers, questions and drama this time ;D _

_As always, the parts in italics are Roxas' direct thoughts. _

_Enjoy._

**

* * *

**

**Abyss**

Chapter 5 – Survival of the Fittest

* * *

Roxas had never realised how much he liked waking up to the rising sun until he couldn't do it anymore. The bedroom, which he shared with Axel, had no windows. Actually he hadn't seen a single window since stepping into this weird place. _Must've been too easy to escape from. _Roxas looked at the slumbering redhead beside him. He looked peaceful in his sleep, especially since that ever present smirk was off his face. Axel's hand was possessively holding the blonde's wrist. Something which made Roxas' stomach twist pleasantly.

Knowing that Demyx was going to call them for breakfast soon, Roxas tried to wake the slumbering redhead up. "Axel, come on. It's time to get up," he repeated a couple of times, but Axel wouldn't budge. Sighing, he started shaking Axel's shoulder, falling right into the other man's trap.

In one swift move, Axel grabbed the blonde's wrist, pulled him to his chest and then flipped them over. "Good morning, Roxie," the redhead purred to Roxas, who was now lying underneath him with eyes wide open. The blue eyes then turned to thin slits, as the blonde glared at Axel.

"You were awake the whole time, weren't you?" Roxas accused. The smug smirk he got in reply was all the answer he needed. He wanted to make a snippy comment, until he suddenly realised what position he was trapped in and the blood started rushing to his face.

Axel's smirk widened, when he saw a blush cross Roxas' features, blue eyes blinking innocently at him. Satisfied with this response, he released the blonde from underneath him and moved towards the kitchen. Whilst looking at the flustered blonde from the corner of his eyes the entire time.

* * *

Breakfast passed by relatively peaceful. Roxas had figured out that in this place, Demyx trying to get emotional responses out of Zexion and Larxene bickering with Axel every second, was part of the natural order. Marluxia seemed the most sane, save for the scheming look in his eyes. Actually, the blonde was quite impressed that Marluxia could still give off an intimidating aura, considering his hair was pink. Very pink. _...I'm surrounded by maniacs with weird hair. _He flicked one of his bangs out of his eye. _My hair fits in well enough, I guess. _

Suddenly the said pink-haired man decided to speak, "Axel, Larxene and I are joining you and Roxas in the next level." Marluxia's tone clearly said it was a fact, not a suggestion.

Axel turned to look at him over with narrowed eyes. "Do you have any particular reason for that, our lovely tooth fairy?" The redhead responded mockingly. Green eyes were scanning the other man's face.

Marluxia ignored the degrading nickname and calmly answered, "You know I always have my reasons." He didn't make a move to explain what those reasons might be though.

Then, much to Roxas' surprise, Axel just smirked and nodded his approval, before returning to his bickering with Larxene. When he looked at Marluxia, the blonde saw the other man exchange a thoughtful look with Zexion. _What's all this about? _

* * *

Ready for the seventh level, six people where standing in front of three doors, waiting for the computer to finish its message.

"Welcome, subjects VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII and XIII. You will advance towards Level 7. There are three possibilities. Please decide with whom you will take on the level. Four persons per possibility is the maximum," the computer said.

Demyx linked his arm with Zexion, before chirping, "Alright, let's go Zexy!" The blue-haired man just rolled his eyes at the other's enthusiasm and walked towards one of the doors, dragging him along. With one last wave from Demyx, the two disappeared after crossing the door.

"So I guess that leaves us then," Axel said. "Which door shall we pick, eh?" He looked ready to say more, but Marluxia just opened the nearest door and walked through it. Completing ignoring the redhead, who was now pouting slightly.

Roxas couldn't help but laugh at the childish look on the redhead's face.

Axel perked up immediately at the sound. "Finally deciding to get that frown off your pretty face?" he asked. The blonde had been frowning ever since Marluxia's little comment during breakfast and that wasn't a facial expression he liked to see on Roxas' face. Smiles, blushes, blinks and pouts looked much better on the other's innocent face, in Axel's opinion.

"Hurry up, already!" Larxene sniped when Roxas and Axel made no move to enter the next level.

Passing through the door, Roxas quietly muttered, "I doubt having her in this level is going to help me from frowning." Axel just chuckled in reply.

Their latest level was in a high tech city. There were skyscrapers and roads everywhere, but not a single human. The cars on the roads were empty and there were no lights on in the buildings. The only lights came from the stars and moon in the night sky. The city looked in perfect condition, just abandoned.

But when the foursome started walking through the empty city, Roxas could see it wasn't as perfect as he had thought. There were cracks in the buildings everywhere, even the roads had some. A faint burnt smell hung in the air, but he couldn't see anything that had been attacked by flames.

The blonde was wondering where they would have to start looking for a key in this huge city, when the foursome saw a museum of some kind. The building's function wasn't what had caught their attention though. The large lights moving behind the windows of the building however had. In a city covered by darkness, those lights stood out brightly.

Larxene was the first to make a move towards the museum. "Well, I guess that's as obvious as it's going to get. Let's enter." She made a move for the handle of the front door, but Marluxia stopped her.

"Wait," the pink-haired man said. "If there's anything malicious in there, then coming through the front door is suicidal." He pointed to a small opening in the wall. It had probably broken under the stress of the multiple cracks. "Let's enter via that opening."

After entering the building, Roxas knew for sure that it had to be a museum. There were skeletons of ancient animals everywhere. The fossils were huge, the smallest three times the size of a human, and propped throughout the room. The dim light brought in by the stars caused the room to be filled with creepy shadows.

The moving lights they had seen outside, were nowhere in sight.

"The skeletons are propped on big pedestals," Marluxia said. He was right; huge square pedestals supported the many fossils. With exception of those hanging from the ceiling. "Hide behind them, when one of the lights approaches."

Roxas looked at the pink-haired man. "Do you already know this level?" he asked.

"No, I don't," Marluxia answered. "But I've been through enough levels to know that everything can be a threat." After that comment he started walking again. The others followed quickly.

The further they walked, the more evolved animal-fossils could be seen. From huge ancient fish to mammoths to smaller, modern mammals. Roxas actually found it quite interesting to watch, until they entered a new room.

It was filled with human skeletons.

He could've gotten used to that, if it had been normal humans. But no, the further they walked, the more deformed the humanoid figures became. Multiple arms, legs even heads. The sight made him sick to the stomach.

Then suddenly, a bright light approached the room. Axel grabbed Roxas' hand and proceeded to drag the blonde behind one of the pedestals in the corner of the room. Marluxia and Larxene were hidden behind a different one.

Two bright flashes entered the room. It seemed that the lights were some kind of new life form. It was too bright to see their bodies, but their voices could be heard clearly. "Ah, the human section. Nothing more than filthy rats if you ask me, I'm glad we got rid of them," one said in a distant almost electronic voice.

"Yes, although having killed them all, really leaves us without proper entertainment." A little electric surge appeared around one of the bodies. "I did love hearing their screams as we burned them alive."

Roxas resisted the urge to gulp. _Well, that explains the burnt smell. They electrocute their victims alive. _While the blonde was wondering what the hell he had done to deserve being stuck here, the two lights left the room.

Axel, unsurprisingly, was the first to break the silence, "Well, I guess that constitutes as a _threat_. I hate it when you're right, Marly," he said with a humourless grin.

"Call me that again and I'll rip your intestines out," Marluxia answered with a perfectly straight face. "Now, let's go find the key, it has to be in one of these rooms."

While Marluxia and Larxene walked ahead, Roxas softly asked, "You can call him fairy, but not Marly?" His big blue eyes looked at Axel, confusion written all over them. The redhead ruffled his hair a bit, before answering that he shouldn't bother trying to understand.

* * *

The latest room they had entered, was huge. There were more skeletons, but what stood out was the enormous fossilized tree in the middle of the room. Latin names were carved in the trunk and branches. At the top the word 'hominis' was carved. On a little sign before the tree stood the words 'arbor mortis'.

"The tree of death," Marluxia translated. "How ironic, they dubbed a tree which names all the species, the tree of _death_." His eyes were browsing through all the Latin terms carved on the gigantic petrified tree.

"Well, you heard those electrical things," Larxene said, "they killed off all humans, so the name is quite fitting." She chuckled, but it didn't cover up the discomfort in her voice.

Axel cut in, "The key should be here, right? I mean, this seems to be the most important room." The three of them scanned the room for a golden key.

Roxas started looking as well, when suddenly Axel's latest comment had made him wonder about something. _If this is the most important room, then shouldn't those lights come here as well? _Then he realised that there was only one door to this room. The one they had used to enter. "Axel–", he started. But he was cut off as the other three saw the key.

"Look there! It's hanging from one of the arms from that Shiva-like skeleton," Larxene said. The fossil had multiple arms, reminiscent to the Hinduist god.

"Axel–," Roxas tried again. If those lights came again, they wouldn't have an escape route. When the redhead ignored him again, Roxas'd had enough, "Dammit, Axel! Listen already!"

The redhead turned to Roxas, a surprised look on his features at the blonde's sudden outburst. "Ehm, yeah?" he asked tentatively.

"There's no other exit if those lights come–," the blonde was cut off again, but this time it wasn't because of Axel. What seemed like an army of bright lights approached their room. Quickly the four of them spread to hide behind the pedestals.

About ten different lights entered the room. "I could've sworn that I had heard something here," one said.

"Let's hope you're right," another said. "New prey would be fun." Electrical surges cracked in the air as the malicious voices spoke.

"We're not going to make it that easy for y'all!" one of the lights yelled. Then suddenly all ten bright lights dimmed, now only visible from a few feet away. The room turned dark, both an advantage and disadvantage for the foursome. It made it easier to move within the room without being seen, yet it was more difficult to see the malicious lights.

* * *

Roxas was desperately trying to calm down. His heart was beating so loud, that it felt like the entire room could hear it. He was hiding on his own, having lost Axel in the panic. The blonde could hear the lights calling taunts through the room. _Breathe, Roxas. Try to find the others. _

When he looked past the pedestal, he could only see the vague forms of skeletons. It caused the room to be filled with a creepy aura. Occasionally he could see a little electric static light up the air. Then the blonde saw something moving from the corner of his eyes.

It was Larxene.

Roxas could only watch as she tried to make her way to the fossil with the key. Slowly, ever so slowly she inched closer. The icy woman was almost there when suddenly Roxas saw a light creep up from behind her. Larxene didn't seem to notice, and with no other options left, Roxas yelled a warning to her, "Larxene, behind you!"

Larxene quickly ran in a different direction, away from the light. She was safe, but now her saviour was in trouble. The yell had attracted the attention of the lights.

Roxas was about to be surrounded, when he heard Axel yell something. Then Marluxia's voice followed as well. Surprised by the different sounds, the lights paused their attack and Roxas could quickly ran past them. Once he thought he had put enough distance between himself and the electric beings, Roxas hid behind another pedestal.

It was turning into some kind of twisted game of tag. The lights would come near and they would run to a new hiding spot. They weren't getting anywhere this way.

Suddenly, Marluxia yelled, "I'm going to grab it! Distract them!" He inched closer to the skeleton with the key, while the others yelled and ran throughout the room, confusing the lights. He had almost grabbed the key, when suddenly a thunder wave flew through the room.

Hitting Marluxia in the chest.

A bone chilling shriek rang filled the air as Larxene screamed in horror at the sight. The man was still breathing, but it was shallow. A little shadow of smoke trailed off his body. The woman wanted to run towards the fallen man, when Axel yelled, "No Larxene! They'll hit you to!"

"I'm not leaving him there!" Larxene shrieked back. Her voice cracked painfully, sounding close to hysterical.

Meanwhile three of the lights had approached the fallen man. "Ah, how long it has been since I got to torture something," one said in a satisfied voice. "_Scream_ for me, precious." He raised what could've been an arm and another thunderbolt struck Marluxia. The pink-haired man gave a pained groan, clenching his jaw to prevent giving the creature the pleasure of hearing him scream in pain.

Suddenly a bone hit the electric creature in the back. It didn't do much to damage him, but did distract him from Marluxia.

"Get away from him, you freak," Larxene spat out. She was holding another bone, torn from one of the skeletons. If looks could kill, then the creature would've been dead. Pure venom was dancing in her narrowed eyes.

The light laughed in response, "What are you going to do if I don't?" If the creature would've had a face, it would've been smirking smugly. "Hit me with a bone? Ooh, I'm shivering," it sneered. Then it aimed a thunder wave at the woman, who had to duck behind a pedestal for cover.

Making use of the distraction as all the lights were looking on in pleasure as Larxene kept avoiding more attacks, Axel moved around the back of the Shiva-like skeleton. He gave a concerned look to Marluxia, but the man just nodded his head towards the key. It seemed that even such a small movement hurt the pink-haired man.

Axel grabbed the key, but it hit the bone in the process, giving off a slight noise. The redhead tried to hide behind the pedestal, but he was too late. The lights saw him.

"There's number three, I see," one of them said. "This one's mine." Another bolt flew through the air, narrowly avoided by the redhead.

Roxas could only look as the lights alternately aimed their attacks at Axel and Larxene. His entire body felt as petrified as the fossilized tree. _I need to help them, but what can I do!? I don't wanna be here anymore. I wanna go home, I wanna go home, home, please anybody… _He couldn't stop the sob rising from his throat. Soon tears were flowing down his face in streams.

His quiet sobbing hadn't gone unnoticed though. Four of the lights who hadn't been aiming at the other two, had caught sight of the crying blonde. "Hey! We found another one," one of the creatures called towards the others, before moving to attack.

Roxas could only stare numbly as the creature raised his arm, ready to strike. He didn't care anymore. _Just let me leave, leave me alone. I don't wanna be here anymore, I wanna leave, I need to leave! LET ME LEAVE! _As loud as his mind was screaming, as quiet the blonde kept sitting there.

He didn't notice Axel screaming his name. He could only watch at the electric sparkles appearing above the creatures hand. Everything seemed to be in slow-motion. Slowly the sparkles turned into a thunderbolt, aimed towards him. But Roxas couldn't even think about moving. His mind seemed to be stuck on repeat. _Let me leave, let me leave, let me leave…_

The bolt was released from the creature's hand. It was flying towards the blonde. Roxas vaguely saw Axel running towards him, out of the corner of his eyes. But he would be too late. The bolt was ready to hit him straight in the head, when suddenly…

Someone push him out of the way.

The bolt missed him by a hair; Marluxia had saved him in the nick of time.

Roxas blinked slowly, tears still streaming out of his eyes. Not comprehending what was going on. Axel had dropped down by his side next to Marluxia, and the blonde could distantly hear the redhead yelling at him. But everything felt so surreal. _Let me leave, let me leave. _The words wouldn't stop repeating.

"He's in shock, Axel," the blonde could hear Marluxia say. The man sounded pained, but Roxas still couldn't move. A distant part of him told him to feel guilty for being so useless, but the rest just kept begging and screaming for a way out.

Axel was shaking the blonde by now. But it was like the boy had lost all the bones in his body. He was completely limp, staring off into nothing.

One of the lights sneered, "Nice rescue, pinky. But this show had lasted long enough." It raised its arm again. "It's time for the final scene. Lights out."

The redhead moved to shield the limp boy in his arms. But Marluxia let out a humourless laugh, "I doubt it." The ever-present scheming look in his eyes burned brightly. "It won't have appreciated what you've tried to do just now."

"Whatever you say," the creature responded apathetically, firing another thunderbolt at the trio.

Then suddenly the bolt froze in mid-air.

"No, it won't appreciate it all," Marluxia mocked. A dangerous glint had appeared in his eyes.

Suddenly a computer voice boomed through the room. It wasn't the girly voice which was normally heard. No, this voice was completely void of emotion or gender. Slowly it spilled out a couple of syllables.

"A."

"T."

"R."

"I."

"S."

"C."

"O."

"I."

After the strange message, the room cracked as thunder waves shot through the room in every direction. The strange creatures were shrieking in pain, having lost total control over their power. The entire level turned into chaos, the system was out of control.

Larxene approached the other three, narrowly avoiding the numerous bolts. "Are you all okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, we'll live," Marluxia answered calmly. Axel shot him a nervous look at that remark; the blonde in arms still wasn't showing any signs of improvement. Tears just kept flowing out of the boy's eyes and his entire body had started shaking. "He'll be fine too, Axel," the pink-haired man said in a strangely soothing voice. "We just need to get him of here."

As the trio were talking, the computer voice had switched back to its girly counterpart. It kept repeating the message 'SYSTEM ERROR.'

"Where's the key hole?" Larxene asked. She was supporting Marluxia while Axel had Roxas in his arms.

"It's probably somewhere in the tree," the pink-haired man answered.

They made their way over to the petrified tree, careful to avoid the bolts which were flying through the room. And yes, on the other side was a key lock. Opening the door, the foursome quickly entered it; eager to leave the seventh level.

* * *

When they entered the Rest Room, Demyx and Zexion were already in the room. "What happened?" Demyx asked anxiously, when he saw how awfully pale both Marluxia and Roxas looked.

"Zexion, do you know how to treat burn wounds?" Marluxia calmly asked. His tone didn't give away just in how much pain the man must've been in.

The blue-haired man nodded and pointed towards the bathroom, where the medicine was stored. Larxene led the pink-haired man over there as Zexion looked over his shoulder to Axel. "Put a blanket around Roxas to keep him warm. His temperature will have gone down because of the shock." His voice softened when he looked at the still softly weeping Roxas, "Just talk to him and calm him down. You've seen this before, it'll pass soon enough." With that he left to tend Marluxia's wounds.

Axel carried the limp boy in his arms towards the bedroom, laying him down under the covers of the bed. He moved his hand to caress the boy's wet cheeks, "It'll be okay, Roxie. I know it's scary, but we're all here, okay? _I'm_ here." Big blue eyes stares blankly at the redhead, tears still flowing. "Shh, I'll keep you safe. No one will hurt you."

He kept mutterings little reassurances to the boy as he caught him in an embrace. The boy didn't react at all, he just kept lying there. But after a few minutes, a hand grabbed the front of Axel's shirt. Then the blonde started clinging tightly to him, the crying turning into small sobs. "It's okay, Roxie. Just let it out."

Knowing he couldn't help Roxas or Marluxia, Demyx had gone to make dinner; a light soup to calm everyone down. He sighed, they had all known that Roxas had to break one of these days. They had all broken once after all. The human brain couldn't take so much stress, especially in such surreal circumstances, without cracking. But knowing didn't make it any less painful to watch…

* * *

Roxas slowly felt his mind turning calm. The voice, which had been screaming at him to leave, had quieted down. Now only Axel's soft voice could be heard. The taller man had held him, muttering reassurances for what seemed ages.

The blonde released his death grip on the redhead's shirt and for the first time his eyes could focus again. They looked into a pair of very concerned green eyes. "Are you feeling better now, Roxie?" he could hear Axel ask. He didn't trust his voice to stay even, so Roxas just gave a small nod. The redhead gave him a relieved small smile and suddenly Roxas felt engulfed by guilt. He had just sat there as those creatures had used the others for target practice! He hadn't done anything to help…

The shame felt so great that Roxas couldn't stare into those green eyes anymore. He ducked his head, but Axel wouldn't allow it. "Hey, look at me." The man said, but he wouldn't, couldn't look at him. _I'm so useless. _He felt like crying again, but he had no tears left to shed.

"_Roxas_."

The blonde's eyes widened at that word. Axel had actually used his name, no nicknames, but his actual name. He sounded mad and Roxas cringed at the tone.

"I told you to look at me," the redhead said. "Don't shut yourself off." The concern in his eyes was mixed with a slight impatience.

That broke any resolve the boy had left. Grabbing the other man's shirt again, Roxas bowed his hair to Axel's chest and let out a string of apologies. "I'm sorry, so sorry. It was all my fault." His voice cracked miserably, "I-I should've helped, bu–." He was cut off, when the redhead softly raised Roxas' head.

With a soft sigh, Axel said, "You don't have to apologize, you silly." He cupped the blonde's cheek again. "Everyone in this game cracked once." Then the look in his eyes turned a bit stern. "And it wasn't your fault. You got it memorized?" The redhead kept his eyes locked with blue until the smaller boy nodded.

"Now let's eat. I'm starving," Axel said. When the blonde looked at him with an insecure look, he grabbed Roxas by the shoulder. Looking him straight in the eyes again, he said, "No sulking. It wasn't your fault, and you're going to eat even if I have to shove it down your throat. Got it–"

"Memorized? Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, _mom_," Roxas sneered back.

Axel smiled at the snappy reply. If the boy was regaining his wits, then he was going to be just fine. Now he only had to interrogate Marluxia for knowing that the computer was going to go mayhem. Zexion probably knew too, considering the look they had exchanged over breakfast.

* * *

The six of them were calmly eating dinner. Marluxia's wounds had been bandaged by Zexion and though they were painful, were going to heal just fine. He wasn't going to be able to run a marathon anytime soon though.

"Ehm, Marluxia?" Roxas asked timidly. The pink-haired man looked at him. "Thanks for saving me from that bolt."

"No problem," the wounded man replied. "Just an equal trade." Everyone blinked at the mysterious reply save for Zexion, who looked annoyed at the reply.

Axel alternated his gaze between Marluxia and Zexion, before saying, "So mind telling us how you knew, fairy?" The other man just gave him a blank look. "Don't play coy with me, Marluxia. You know what I'm talking about. How did you know the computer was going to crash?"

Marluxia ignored the question though, and looked at Roxas. "Zexion told me that you saw Namine twice in a row."

"Namine?" The blonde blinked in confusion before it dawned on him. "You mean that girl from the lake?" The other man nodded.

Axel looked confused at that statement. "You mean that girl was real?" He looked at Roxas. "You said she cracked the lake instead of me and Demyx."

"Yeah." Roxas turned back to Marluxia. "Do you know her?" Another nod. "Did she cause the computer crash?"

"In a way," Zexion mysteriously replied.

Larxene cut in, "What about those letters the computer said. What do they mean?"

Marluxia and Zexion exchanged a look. "We don't know," the blue-haired man said. "Marluxia said he counted eight letters, but only remembers the A, T and R. Do you remember more?"

Roxas shook his head, Axel added the letter O and Larxene added a C. They were still three letters short, but Zexion wrote them down. "It must be some kind of code," the blue-haired man said. "Maybe even form a password when put in the right order."

"But," Axel asked, "What else _do_ you know?" He sounded quite irritated. But who could blame him? He had been here for two years and only now were Marluxia and Zexion spilling the beans.

Marluxia sighed. "I've known Namine for a while, and then four and a half years ago she just vanished." That was a little longer than the game had run. "The creator is using her for this game; she's…" A pause. "_special_." Axel looked like he wanted to ask why, but Marluxia started talking again. "Zexion said that Namine has hinted the number thirteen to him a couple of times."

The blue-haired man started talking, "I didn't understand why that number would be important but then you appeared," He looked at Roxas. "The thirteenth subject." His one visible eyes focused on the blonde. "Namine tries to help out when she can, but there has always been at least a two week break between her appearances. But yesterday you told me that you had seen her two times in a row so…"

Roxas finished the train of thought. "…She has gained power since my arrival. Since the thirteenth arrival." Zexion nodded. "But she didn't cause the computer crash? Not directly?"

"We think she planted a bug. A computer virus of the sort," Marluxia said. "One that would activate when the thirteenth subject joined the game." He brushed a hand through his pink hair. "It'll probably grow and slowly corrupt the system."

"And since you're the cause for its activation, the virus will probably not like it if your life is put in danger." Zexion finished.

Roxas was slowly processing all this new information. "But if it wants to keep me save then why did Marluxia need to save me the first time?" he asked.

"Because I wasn't sure if it would save you in advance or just create havoc _after_ you were hit." The pink-haired man answered. "It wasn't until I had saved you, that the virus realized that you had been in danger." He looked at the wide eyed blonde. "So don't think you're untouchable just because it 'likes' you."

Demyx piped in, "So will the system close down because of the virus after a little while?" He didn't say what everyone was thinking; 'and will we be free afterwards?'

Zexion crushed that hope. "We doubt it. New levels are created everyday, so if a level gets corrupted, a new one just gets created. The virus will always be one step behind this way." His tone softened at the crushed look on Demyx's face. "But it will help us gain levels. A corrupted level should be easier to win." He twisted a lock of hair in his fingers. "If we can figure out what those letters mean, then maybe we can hack the system ourselves."

"Considering the level twenty is practically impossible to win, it's pretty obvious that the main computer might be accessible after that level," Marluxia said. "But this is still only theory though. We're not sure."

Silence filled the room after all that information. Marluxia and Zexion were obviously still withholding some information, but it had been a long day and the others let it slide for now. Five people were in deep thought but one decided it was too quiet…

"…More soup, anyone?" Demyx asked cheerfully.

**

* * *

Day 1465. **

**Subjects VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII and XIII have passed Level 7.  
****Subject X has failed at Level 18. X has been relocated to Level 15.**

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: Level 7 has crashed. An unidentified program has broken into the system. **

**Current Level of subjects:  
I – 18  
II – 17  
III – 11  
IV – 11  
****V – 16  
VI – 7  
VII – 18  
VIII – 7  
IX – 7  
X – 15  
XI – 7  
XII – 7  
XIII - 7**

_**

* * *

Author's note:**__Lots of new information :D And I messed up the letters so reading them backwards (or forwards) won't help ;D They do form a word though. _

_This is what you get when I watch 'Ghost in the Shell' and 'Perfect Blue' before writing a new level xD __A lot of drama. _

_Reviews makes this author happy ;D_


	6. Diseased Mind

_**Author's note**__: Sorry for the late update .;; I have the entire plot thought out but real life butted in… I'll try to update every two weeks from now on. Anyway, Axel and Roxas take on level 8 in this chapter. And it seems our favourite redhead doesn't like hospitals…_

_As always, the parts in italics are Roxas' direct thoughts. _

**

* * *

**

**Abyss**

Chapter 6 – Diseased Mind

* * *

Roxas felt that the rest room was filled with a tense atmosphere. After the revelations of last night, Marluxia and Zexion were acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary. As if they hadn't withheld important information from the rest. Throughout breakfast, the blonde had noticed that Demyx and -surprisingly- Larxene were looking down. Having not been told anything even though they were each close with one of the two men, must have hurt them. Without the usual cheerful chatter of the musician and battle of wits between Axel and Larxene, the room was filled with a uncomfortable silence.

Whilst the two other blondes looked down, Axel looked furious. Roxas could tell that the redhead was biting his tongue; his face was set emotionless, but Axel couldn't cover the anger behind those green eyes.

After what seemed forever, everyone was done with their breakfast. Ready for the next level.

"Welcome, subjects VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII and XIII. You will advance towards Level 8. There are three possibilities. Please decide with whom you will take on the level. Four persons per possibility is the maximum," the computer repeated like every day.

Axel was the first to speak, "Me and Roxie are going on our own today." The angry tone in which he had spoken, made obvious that the redhead had no desire for sharing a level with either Zexion or Marluxia.

Roxas looked from one face to another. He could've sworn he'd seen Zexion flinch at the angry remark, but now his face was as impassive as always. Then the group split in three; Axel and Roxas, Zexion and Demyx and lastly Marluxia and Larxene.

* * *

The level they entered was totally white. White walls, doors and floors. Even the air felt 'white', void of any kind of scent. It took Roxas a moment to realize that they were standing a hospital. A very sanitary one; not a single speck of dust could be seen.

When he looked to his side, the blonde could see that the redhead had gone slightly pale. "Are you alright, Axel?" he asked.

"Sure, Roxy. Why wouldn't I be?" Axel answered. The redhead tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. When Roxas just kept looking at him doubtfully, he sighed. "I just don't like hospitals, okay? Drop it."

With one final look, Roxas started walking through the hospital's corridor with Axel on his trail. The duo passed several rooms, which were all filled with patients. Even the hospital gowns which the patients wore, were perfect white. They didn't look sick either. Not a single cough could be heard, and all the patients were staring ahead of them in a daze. Occasionally one of them would smile briefly at nothing and then turn passive again. _Well, at least they have normal eyes. Unlike those dolls from two days ago…_

To his side, Roxas could feel Axel tensing up more and more. But every time he gave a worried glance to the redhead, the man would just smile at him as if everything was okay.

"May I help you?"

Both of them jumped at the sudden voice. Behind them a young women had appeared, she seemed to be a nurse. Her hair was tucked neatly in a bun and her outfit was -of course- perfect white. She was quite pretty, a comforting smile gracing her features as she repeated her question. "May I help you?"

When it looked like Axel was just not going to say anything, Roxas answered, "That's fine, thank you. We're just..uhm looking around."

The nurse looked at him in confusion. "You aren't patients?" she asked. When they shook their heads, she gave another charming smile. "We'll fix that. Please follow me." With a motion of her hand she beckoned them to follow her.

She led the duo into room which had no other patients. Then she grabbed two hospital gowns from the closet and laid them out on the bed. "Please wear these," she said. "Then you'll be patients." The nurse made it sound like if being a patient was a _good _thing. After her message, she left the room.

"Well, that was weird," Roxas laughed. When Axel made no move, he sighed. _Seriously, what's wrong with him today? _"Are you still mad about the Zexion-Marluxia thing?" he asked. But it didn't seem like if the redhead had heard him. The other man seemed too busy shooting death glares at the two gowns.

"Yo, Axel! Anyone in there?" the blonde poked Axel in the side. He had wanted to wave his hands before the other's eyes, but found out he was too short to do so. Much to his chagrin.

Axel blinked at him in confusion. When Roxas started poking him some more, he finally replied. "Yeah, yeah let's just go and find that key." He was stopped by Roxas' voice.

"Maybe we should wear them," the blonde said. "This way we'll fit into the scenery." It seemed logical; this way they could search throughout the hospital without sticking out like a sore thumb in this place void of colours.

But the redhead looked at Roxas as if he had just grown two heads. "Wear them?" He gave a shaky laugh. "But we're not sick. We're not patients."

"I _know_ that, Axel." Roxas replied. "We'll just act like if we are. To fit in." The blonde held out one of the gowns to Axel, but the redhead stepped back in some kind of frightened reflex.

Axel shook his head and put more distance between himself and the gown. "We're not patients. I am not a _patient_."

Roxas blinked at the way Axel had said 'patient'. Whereas the nurse had made the word sound positive, the redhead's voice was filled with loathing. With pure hatred. "…Axel, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," Axel snapped. "Just get going." With large steps the redhead walked out of the room. His entire body was tense like a bow and a deep frown had made its way to his face.

* * *

Roxas was quietly following Axel as they walked through the halls of the hospital. They hadn't seen another nurse, but the patients were all over the place. If you could even call them patients. They looked perfectly fine; the only indicator of illness was the same plain gowns each of them wore. But Roxas was hardly paying attention to them. His thoughts were focussed at the redhead who was walking ahead of him. Axel hadn't spoken another word since they'd left the room, which was starting to worry him. It was usually impossible to shut the other man up for even a second.

He was about to ask Axel if he was alright, yet again, when suddenly a patient stumbled and crashed into a cart filled with medical instruments. It caused the items to be scattered across the floor. Roxas was about to help the patient up, when he saw the look on Axel's face. Pure panic had washed over it, as green eyes scanned over the shiny metal instruments. "Axel, what the hell is wrong with–".

"Oh dear, what a mess." A new nurse had appeared behind them and cut Roxas off. She looked similar to the nurse they had seen earlier. Hair in a perfect bun and not a single crease could be seen in her uniform. As she turned towards Roxas and Axel, a displeased look crossed her eyes. "Why aren't you wearing your gowns?"

Considering Axel was still staring at the fallen instruments in a disturbed way, it was up to Roxas to talk them out of this mess. "Ehm, we.. we couldn't find them." _Brilliant input, Roxas. _Lying had never been his strongest suit. But it seemed to do the trick. The unsatisfied look left the nurse's eyes and a smile graced her lips.

"Please just look into the closet of your patient room. Your gowns should be there," she happily told them with a smile on her face.

Roxas returned the smile with a strained one of his own. "We'll go and do that." Hopefully she would leave them alone now.

"Where are your rooms?" Alas, no such luck.

The blonde gave the most innocent smile he could muster, before replying, "Just a little further. We can find them ourselves, right Axel?" He grabbed the redhead wrist, but the man wasn't budging. Axel just kept staring at the instruments as if his life depended on it. It caused the nurse to stare at them.

"Your friend looks ill," she said. The tone of her voice suggested that she seemed rather thrilled by that aspect. The nurse bended over to grab one of the instruments scattered on the floor. "I'll fix him up."

That statement shook Axel out of whatever trance he'd been in. He quickly turned his heels and walked off in the opposite direction. Dragging Roxas along, who had still been holding on to his wrist. His pace sped up to such a level, that the blonde had to jog to keep up with him.

But they couldn't escape that easily.

The nurse they had left behind, glared ferociously at their retreating backs.

"Patients should _behave_."

Her tone could have frozen over hell. And with that seemingly simple message, she walked off.

* * *

Roxas was running as fast as he could, his hand still clasping onto Axel's. At first he had thought that they could just run out of sight. But seconds after their retreat, all of the patients had begun chanting the word 'behave' over and over again. With their empty gazes fixed on the running duo, every patient they passed, pointed its fingers in the direction they were running. Simulating as a brood trail for the chasing nurses.

"Behave."

"Behave."

"Behave."

The chanting just kept going and Roxas was frantically trying to think of a way to save themselves. _Come on, think of something! Think! _But he couldn't think of anything; all he saw was patients and white. Everywhere.

They should've just worn the gowns! If Roxas was going to make it out of this alive, he would tell Axel 'I told you so' a million times. …Or not. The redhead's face was still twisted in so much panic, that Roxas was afraid the other man was going to have a heart attack.

_Wait a minute…the gowns! Maybe we can still put them on! _The main reason the nurses were mad at them, was because they didn't act as proper patients. Maybe if they put on the gowns they could still redeem themselves.

"Axel! We need to put on the gowns!" Roxas yelled over the sound of the chanting. The redhead didn't say anything in the reply, but did give him a disbelieving look. "I know it's a long shot, but maybe they'll back off if we act properly."

But Axel just repeated the sentence he had used before, "I am _not_ a patient."

"I know that!" Roxas replied. He was getting too tired. They had been running for a while now. "I know you're not, Axel, but we need to blend in."

When Axel still refused to budge, the blonde yanked him into one of the patient rooms. Quickly he opened the closet and tore out two gowns. "Put it on!" He yelled towards Axel and put one over his own head.

"I. Am. Not. A. Patient," Axel slowly spelled out like you would towards a misunderstanding child. But there was no energy left in his voice. It sounded hollow.

But as the sound of approaching footsteps increased, Roxas' patient ran out. He grabbed the other gown and tugged it over the man's head. The blonde had just closed the last button of Axel's gown when suddenly the chanting stopped. The patients which had been in the same room, stopped their pointing and the sound of rapid footsteps also ceased.

It had worked.

But Roxas didn't get much time to gloat about his success, since the patient's chanting seemed to have been replaced by Axel's 'I'm not a patient'-chant.

"Hey, Axel. Look at me," the blonde tried. But Axel just kept staring at the ground, mumbling and playing with the buttons of the gown. "Axel, tell me what's wrong," Roxas tried again in the softest voice he could muster.

Still no reaction.

Softly Roxas cupped Axel's head with his hands, making the redhead look at him. "Calm down, okay? It's alright now," he shushed.

Finally the redhead seemed to hear him as the man blinked slowly. Roxas moved his hands to the man's shoulders as Axel turned his head to look at his surroundings. "Axel?" he tried again. Thankfully, green eyes cleared up this time and looked at him.

Axel sighed, "Ah, sorry Roxie. I freaked out, didn't I?" The blonde just nodded. Big blue eyes looked expectantly at him. "And you wanna know why, right?" Much to his surprise Roxas didn't nod.

"You don't have to tell me, Axel. Just don't pretend to be fine, when you're not." Then Roxas quickly added, "But if you want to tell me, you can."

A slight grin appeared on Axel's face at that last reply. "You wish." He sighed again. "I just had a bad experience with hospitals." His green eyes lifted towards the ceiling. "_Really_ bad."

"Ehm," Roxas started, "Should I look for the key myself?" When Axel raised a eyebrow, he quickly continued, "So you won't have to see all that again."

"Nah, I won't let that happen again. It just caught me off-guard the first time," Axel replied.

"You're sure?" the blonde asked. The redhead had been a mess just moments ago, he didn't want it to happen again.

Axel gave the smaller boy a small grin and ruffled his hair, before replying, "Yeah, I'm sure." Then he leered at Roxas, "But you're going to have to share the bed with me again tonight, to scare off my nightmares, Roxie-_bear_."

Reassured by the return of Axel's usual pestering, Roxas felt himself smile at the redhead in return. After that his smile turned into a smirk which could rival Axel's. "And Axel?"

"Yeah, Roxie?" the redhead asked.

"I _told_ you so."

"Oh shut up," Axel replied as he lightly punched the grinning boy in the shoulder.

* * *

Now that the two of them were wearing hospital gowns, they could move freely through the hospital in search of the level's key. Axel still seemed slightly on edge because of their surroundings, but distracted himself with pestering Roxas.

"No, I'm serious. Larxene got hit by lightning when she was a child. That's why her hair looks like it does," Axel explained gravely. The huge grin on his face spoke otherwise though.

"Then what's your excuse, Axel?" Roxas replied cheekily. "For _your_ hair."

The redhead brushed a hand through his hair. Then he put a finger to his mouth, and as if he was telling a secret, whispered, "An angel blessed it."

"Don't you mean curse?" Roxas replied. He had to duck to avoid the punch which Axel aimed for his head.

"Jealousy is such an ugly emotion, blondie," Axel exaggerated a sigh. "Alas, hotness as mine is rare so I can understand your envy."

Roxas was about to reply with a snide comment, when he suddenly saw the golden key. Just hanging in the lock of a door. A notice was hanging on the door with 'for staff only' written on it. He looked around to see if there were any nurses around. Since not a single nurse could be seen, he and Axel moved towards the key.

The blonde turned the key slowly and removed it as he unlocked the door. Curious to see what was in the room, he opened the door and entered the room with Axel close behind him.

At first it looked like an ordinary storage room. There were medical instruments, blankets and sheets everywhere. The lights were off, but the open door enabled the hallway's light to brighten the room.

They wished it hadn't.

In sharp contrast with the other neurotically clean rooms of the hospital, a dark red was splattered throughout the room. Dried up blood was scattered all over the place. Not only on the instruments and blankets, but also on the floor and walls. Roxas could feel his breakfast threatening to come out at the sight.

The blonde turned towards Axel in worry, but luckily the redhead didn't seem to be as freaked out as he had been before. The man had turned pale, but the hollow glaze which had covered his green eyes previously, wasn't present.

Axel caught his glance and put his hand on the blonde's shoulder to give it an encouraging squeeze. The both of them were about to leave the room, when…

"_Behave_."

The duo quickly turned towards the owner of the voice, seeing a very ticked off nurse.

"This room is off-limits for patients," the nurse said in a bone-chilling tone. But neither of them paid any attention to it; they were looking at woman's right hand. Because it was holding rather large scalpel. Fresh blood was dripping from it, forming a puddle on the floor.

"We're terribly sorry, _ma'am_. Please excuse us," Axel replied quickly. Then he grabbed Roxas' wrist and sprinted out of the room, dragging the blonde along with him.

As they sprinted through the hallways, it was a déjà-vu all over again. Once more the patient were chanting 'behave' and pointing their fingers in their direction, giving away their position. But it seemed the hospital had learned from the last time. Because instead of just chasing the duo, the nurses started circulating them. In a couple of the minutes they were completely surrounded.

About thirty nurses were standing in a perfect circle around Axel and Roxas. And even if they could've breached that barrier, it seemed all of the patients of the hospital had come to watch. There were people everywhere making it impossible to keep running.

And standing proudly in the front row was the nurse which was still holding the, in blood covered, scalpel. "Patients should _behave_," she sneered as she swung the scalpel from one hand to the other. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what she wanted to do with it.

Roxas turned his head to the side when he suddenly heard the noise of something being torn apart. It was Axel. He had removed his gown in a not very subtle way. For a second Roxas was afraid the redhead was going to start his 'I'm not a patient'-chant again, but the other man just dropped the torn garment to the floor.

"We'd like to check out," Axel said in a calm voice. A nasty sneer was covering his lips as he stared straight at the armed nurse, who raised her scalpel in response.

The redhead looked ready to take the nurse on and though Roxas had no doubt that the redhead could easily take the woman out, it wouldn't solve their problem. There would still be hundreds of people ready to pounce them. The entire level was out to get them. _…The entire level, eh? Maybe I could–_

But before he could finish his train of thought, the nurse dashed forward to take a swipe at Axel. The redhead avoided the first blow, but considering they were trapped within the circle, the man had little space to manoeuvre. The nurse was also proving to be quite a good fighter. Every swing she took, was carefully positioned; coming dangerously close to the defending redhead.

Roxas was about to come and help Axel out, when the other man told him to escape.

"You and I both know that even if we can take this wench out, that there are still too many out here," Axel told him. "Just try to make a run for it." He had to duck to narrowly escape a swipe to the head.

Roxas, however, didn't plan on leaving the redhead on his own, "A. I'm not leaving you and B. there's nowhere to go. We're surrounded, you moron!" he half-shouted.

"Then what do you suggest we do, _genius_?" Axel replied testily. But the conversation was distracting him, and the nurse moved in to take a clean shot at the redhead.

For a short moment time seemed to slow down. Slowly Axel's green eyes widened and the nurse's leer deepened as the scalpel closed in, but it didn't connect with its intended victim.

"Roxas!" Axel yelled as the scalpel sliced the skin of the blonde's arm.

A long cut from wrist to elbow was created as Roxas had moved in front of the redhead, shielding himself with his arm. But when the nurse raised her hand to strike again, the blonde let a sneer slide up his face, "_You_ should learn to behave."

Like the bolt had frozen the other day, the nurse's hand froze mid-air as a deep voice boomed through the room.

"C."

"O."

"S."

"I."

"I."

"R."

"T."

"A."

Unlike the chaos which had followed in the last level, this time everything stopped moved entirely. The patients and nurses had turned into living statues. The hospital would've been completely silent if the computer hadn't kept repeating the message 'SYSTEM ERROR' over and over again. That and a certain redhead who felt the need to yell at the bleeding Roxas.

"Damnit, you planned this, didn't you!" Axel yelled at the blonde. But he wasn't looking at Roxas, since he was to busy moving towards the first bandages he could find. "Put this on," he said as he wrapped the bandages around the blonde's arm to stop the bleeding.

"Well, did you? Plan it?" the redhead asked again in a agitated voice when Roxas made no move to speak.

Roxas only answered with one word, "Yes."

When Axel just glared at him, the blonde explained, "The virus wants me to stay alive, remember?" He flinched slightly as Axel wound the bandage around his arm. "At least know we now for sure that it doesn't save me _in advance_."

"And that is a good explanation for getting hurt, how?" Axel asked testily.

The blonde sighed. "The only way we were going to escape this level was if it crashed." Another flinch. "And it did."

Axel just glared at that reply, but it more out of worry than anger. "We'll finish this conversation after we've got you cleaned up in the rest room."

**

* * *

Day 1466****. **

**Subjects VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII and XIII have passed Level 8.  
****Subject X has failed at Level 15. X has been relocated to Level 10.**

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: Level 8 has crashed. A bug has infiltrated the system. REPAIRS NEEDED. **

**Current Level of subjects:  
I – 19  
II – 18  
III – 12  
IV – 12  
****V – 17  
VI – 8  
VII – 19  
VIII – 8  
IX – 8  
X – 10  
XI – 8  
XII – 8  
XIII - 8**

_**

* * *

Author's note: **__So why is Axel afraid of hospitals and why would it matter to my plot..? Y'all have to see later ;D _

_Please review. _

_And happy new year! _


	7. Purple Savior

_**Author's note**__: You know you haven't updated in ages if you end your last chapter with 'a happy new-year' and start your new chapter with one xD Late, late update. I'm sorry!_

_A little recap: Roxas and co. are stuck in some kind of virtual (and somewhat sadistic) levelling game. Namine seems to have some control of it (but is not the creator) and planted a bug which activated ever since Roxas, the thirteenth subject, entered. If Roxas' life is endangered by one of the levels, this bug activates and crashes the level. This is all figured out by Zexion and Marluxia, who both seem to know more than they let on, much to the others chagrin. In the last chapter it became apparent that Axel really, really hates hospitals and Roxas got himself injured on purpose to crash the level and get them to safety. _

_Remember? If not, try reading chapter 2 again since it explains a lot of 'rules' of the game. _

_On to levels 9! _

_Oh, and I made a little change, in chapter 2 I had written: "__The levels ten to fifteen have six possibilities__", but I feel that's a bit too little now, so I upped it to 20 possibilities xD _

* * *

**Abyss**

Chapter 7 – Purple Savior

Roxas flinched as Zexion wrapped the bandage around his injured arm. The cut hadn't been that deep but it still stung a lot. But the pain wasn't the main thing on his mind. He knew Axel was furious at him for getting hurt on purpose. For now the redhead was taking a shower, but Roxas knew that the moment Axel was done, he was going to receive one hell of a preach.

"You should keep the bandage on for a day or two to prevent infection," Zexion said. He looked at the wound. "Which level were you in?"

"A hospital run by someone with mysophobia," Roxas replied sarcastically.

Zexion's eyes lit up in comprehension, "With the bloody storage room, right? Yes, that one is quite difficult."

"And weird," Roxas sighed, "especially for Axel. He was kinda freaked out." His big blue eyes didn't miss the slight flinch Zexion gave at that last reply. "Do you know why?" But Zexion just shook his head and awkwardly started cleaning up the first aid box. With another sigh he decided to drop the subject. For now anyway. "Zexion."

"Yes?" Zexion answered, his back turned to the blonde.

"You should make up with them."

The blue haired man turned around swiftly, obviously surprised by the sudden change of subject. "What?"

"You should make up with them," Roxas repeated. "You've known each other for years now. Yet you didn't tell them that you knew more about this game. More than they did." Blue eyes stared intensely at Zexion. "That hurt them, Zexion. A _lot_. Especially Demyx, if you're as close to him as I think you are."

A guilty look covered Zexion's one exposed eye.

"Something is obviously preventing you from telling the entire story. But you should at least apologize," Roxas finished.

Zexion briefly closed his eyes, "You're right." Then opened them again to look straight at the injured boy, "Thanks, Roxas, and…and I'm sorry." He received a smile in reply.

"That's alright." The blonde stood up, gingerly rubbing over his bandaged arm. "I remember the last three letters, by the way. They're "ISI"." He grinned at Zexion's surprised look before making his way out of the room. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a preach to receive."

* * *

Axel was already waiting for him in their bedroom. He still looked cross, but the look in his eyes softened slightly at the sight of the bandage which covered Roxas' entire lower arm. "Do you write with that hand?"

"No," Roxas answered, he tried to keep his voice neutral to hide his nerves.

"Hmph, at least you were smart enough to prevent that, eh?" Axel sneered. He opened his mouth to let out more snide comments but was cut off when Roxas raised his hand like a stop signal.

Roxas took in a deep breath and looked intensely at Axel. _Time to follow my own advice. _"I'm sorry for worrying you, Axel." The redhead blinked at the sudden apology. "I just couldn't sit and watch. Not again." _Not like in that museum level._

Axel ran a hand through his hair, "How am I supposed to stay mad at you if you give me that puppy look?" His eyes gazed at the ceiling to escape baby blue eyes. "I wasn't expecting you to apologize though." He grinned and ruffled Roxas' hair, "You keep surprising me, Roxie."

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?" The blonde asked as hands tried to save what was left of his hairstyle.

"If you'll forgive me for being an ass at the start of that level," Axel replied in a serious tone. 'And for not explaining why', was left unsaid but clear.

Roxas blinked. He hadn't thought that Axel would say that. "I…I…sure." He received toothy grin in return.

"Then we're both forgiven," the redhead stated happily. "Let's go and eat. I'm staaarving."

* * *

Roxas and Axel entered the kitchen to see that the others were there as well. That wasn't the strange part though. No, the strange part was that Zexion was cooking –Demyx _always_ did that– and Marluxia was giving Larxene a backrub.

"…What the hell?" Axel said. Both he and Roxas were left blinking at the strange scene. "What's going on…?"

Demyx gave them a sugary grin, "Hungry? Zexy will make _whatever_ you'd like." His eyes looked at Zexion with a mischievous glint, "Won't you, Zexy, my darling dearest?" The other man nodded in reply, pointedly not meeting the others' eyes.

"Why yes, they'll do _everything _we'd like," Larxene said. "Right, Marly?"

Marluxia stiffened momentarily at the hated nickname but then continued his massage. "Of course."

"You get to call him 'Marly'," Axel asked, amazed. Larxene nodded. "And he won't bite your head off? Won't maim you? Won't cut you into little pieces and _then_ kill you?"

"Naturally, what kind of slave would he be if he didn't?" The women responded with a grin so large it barely fitted on her face.

Roxas laughed as it finally clicked. "Haha, they apologized, right? And now they're your slaves until you've decided they've been punished enough." The sighs which escaped both men told Roxas he was right.

Axel didn't quite follow it though, "Apologized?"

Zexion ignored the question and asked one of his own, "So are you and Roxas good again?"

"Yes," the redhead replied.

"Does that mean you're in a forgiving mood?" Zexion asked. Both he and Marluxia looked pointedly at Axel.

Axel looked at them sceptically but finally answered when Roxas poked him in the side, "Maybe. Maybe not."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

Both men said it so sincerely that it made the redhead's eyes widen. The silence stretched until Roxas gave him another poke, harder this time. "Fine, fine you're forgiven. Happy now?"

"Yes, very much actually," Marluxia replied vaguely.

"Wait, what am I missing?" Axel asked, his eyes darting from Zexion to Marluxia which were both wearing relieved looks. He was ignored though.

"Roxas?" Marluxia began.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry to you too."

"That's alright." Roxas replied. "I really don't need a new slave." He leered at Axel. "I'm already housetraining one."

Axel glared at the grinning blonde, "Very funny….but why- ah crap!" It finally clicked. "You're slaving for Demyx and Larxene because they have _not_ forgiven you _yet_!" He slapped his hand against his forehead in frustration.

Marluxia looked up from his massaging to give Axel a smug look, "Yes, and since you two _have_, we won't have to follow your orders."

Dinner went relatively smooth after that revelation. Although Axel kept muttering about missed chances, Zexion and Marluxia were teased endlessly without mercy and the food was slightly burned by a certain inexperienced cook.

* * *

The next morning everyone was ready to take on the ninth level. Zexion and Marluxia were looking a tad tired though.

"You've been up all night trying to figure out the password, haven't you?" Larxene asked. She received two tired glances in return.

Marluxia sighed, "We now know that the letter are A T R O C I S I, but I can't form a single word with them…" He shook his head in frustration. "It's obviously not an English word, probably Latin, maybe even Greek."

"We need a hint or a clue to figure out it's meaning," Zexion started. "It probably has something to do with the number thirteen, because that's when it's activated." He shot a quick glance at the pink haired man.

"Well, thirteen _is_ Namine's favourite number," Marluxia explained. At the questioning looks he received, he elaborated, "Like I said before, I knew her." The curious looks didn't stop. "Fine, she was patient of mine."

Roxas asked, "What kind of patient?"

"Psychiatric."

Four pair of eyes widened at that. Not Zexion's though.

Marluxia continued, "She had a past trauma, which has nothing to do with this so I won't elaborate on that. I have work confidentiality, you know." he smirked but his eyes were flat. "Well, _had_ anyway." He brushed a hand through his hair. "The trauma had made her very closed off and unable to express herself. So I once made her draw something as if to convey her feelings." A slight smile. "Namine turned out to be a great artist and the treatment was hitting off, but…" A deep breath, "…then she disappeared without a trace." He gave a hollow laugh. "Imagine my surprise when I saw her here."

"This is all so complicaaated," Demyx whined. Axel patted his head in sympathy. "And even if we do figure out the word, then what are we going to do with it?"

"Tell the virus?" Roxas piped up.

Zexion nodded. "We should probably make the level crash and then tell the virus when it's spilling out the letters."

"That's nice, but what good will that do for the virus?" Axel asked.

Zexion answered again. "I'm pretty sure that the virus needs that password in order to grow. We might even need more passwords after this one."

Axel groaned, "I don't like this at all." He crossed his arms. "The levels only crash when Roxie's in danger…" He sent a concerned look at the blonde.

"Well," Roxas began, "Let's at least take a piece of paper and pencil with us next time. So if it crashes and starts spilling new letters, we can write them down in one try."

"That's still one time too many, blondie," Axel didn't look very convinced.

Roxas smiled sadly, "You'd rather stay stuck here?" The redhead gave him no answer in reply.

The computer obviously decided they had spent enough time chattering, because it ran it's usual message. "Welcome, subjects VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII and XIII. You will advance towards Level 9. There are three possibilities. Please decide with whom you will take on the level. Four persons per possibility is the maximum."

Larxene looked at Marluxia and Zexion, "You two want to keep figuring out the password together, don't you?" She received two nods.

"Well, since Roxy is pretty much out of commission," Demyx looked pointedly at the boys arm, "How about I'll join you two?" He said whilst looking at Roxas and Axel. "Then we'll split up into two groups of three."

After everyone agreed, they entered their own levels.

* * *

The ninth level was an enormous desert. Sand stretched out as far as the eye could see. The sun glared from its place upon the sky, causing the air to be scorching hot. Much to Demyx's, a water lover, dismay.

"Man, it's too hot in here~!" Demyx whined, his arms flapping in weird movements, reminiscent to a fish on dry land.

"If you're done waving, maybe we can get going," Axel sarcastically said.

Roxas turned a full 360 yet saw nothing but sand. "Go where to exactly?"

The big blue eyes gazing up at him in confusing caused Axel to smile. "To the rainforest," the redhead answered mysteriously. When Roxas cocked his head to the side, puzzled, Axel laughed. "You're too cute, Roxie." He received a blush in return. Hitting on the blonde never ceased to amuse him. "I've been here before, we just need to keep walking until we find an oasis."

"An oasis?" Roxas asked. "But there's nothing here!"

Axel bend down to pat Roxas softly on the nose. "It's not supposed to make sense, remember?" As he straightened, a sly smirk made its way onto his face. "You'll be getting your _wet_ dream soon enough, Dem."

Demyx didn't seem to catch the innuendo but Roxas sure as hell did. "Axel?!" The blush wasn't going anywhere at this rate.

Axel just looked at him innocently. "What?" It wasn't a very convincing look though.

Roxas sighed, "Let's just get going, you pervert."

They had been walking for about ten minutes when it suddenly started raining. Drops the size of grapes fell out of the sky. The moment the drops hit the sand, the scenery changed and flourished.

"...What the hell?" Demyx and Roxas muttered at the same time as the desert turned into a lush jungle in front of their eyes. Awestruck the both of them looked around while Axel snickered at the look on their faces.

"Told ya we'd go to a rainforest," The redhead said.

"It's gorgeous," Roxas whispered. Huge trees, about the height of your average skyscraper, were spread everywhere. Large purple wisterias had draped themselves around the trees, also having grown to extreme lengths. The air was moist and hot. The kind that makes your clothes stick to your skin.

"Now where's that tree..." Axel muttered, trying to gracefully manoeuvre his way through the branches and roots littered on the ground. "Ah, there it is."

There stood a dead tree in the middle of a small lake. Its gray white branches contrasted with the colourful scenery. As light filtered through a thick roof of leaves, a glimmer highlighted the key dangling on one of tree's branches.

"So are there alligators hiding in the water or something?" Roxas grumbled. "It can't be that easy to just grab the key."

Axel laughed, "Always our little bundle of sunshine, eh blondie?" He motioned to Demyx to go and get the key. "Getting the key _is_ that easy. It's the key lock that's the problem."

"What do you mean?" Roxas inquired.

"Oh, you'll see," The redhead answered lightly. "Hey Demyx! Find a place to climb unto once you grab the key!" He yelled.

In the meantime Demyx had made its way through the water and nodded to Axel. He climbed the tree and as soon as he had grabbed the key, the dead tree seemed to regain its life force. Slowly colour seeped back in its branches and wisteria flowers bloomed on its surface.

But at the same time the drops of moisture that had rested on the rainforests' leaves started falling. Luckily Axel and Roxas had also found themselves a place off the ground and in the trees, because the ground's surface started rippling as if it were water as soon as the first drop hit the ground.

"What's going on?" Roxas asked to Axel as he saw dozens of drops fall to the ground.

"Just watch", Axel answered. He snapped a leaf of the tree he was standing on and dropped it to the ground. When the leaf hit the ground it sunk right through as if it had hit quicksand. "Good thing I've been here before, eh? I remember the first time I got here. It took me and Marluxia half an hour to pull Larxene out." He let out a slight chuckle. "Granted I wasn't really trying that hard."

"So we just try to reach the lock without touching the ground?" Demyx asked. "That can't be that hard."

Axel shook his head. "Just wait, we'll be avoiding more than just the ground." A sigh. "I hate the cold. Don't get touched the ice balls," The redhead warned.

"What ice balls?" Demyx asked.

As if on cue the water drops stopped falling. For a moment the ground looked solid again but the process was suddenly reversed as drops came back _out_ of the ground. These drops were much larger though. About the size of a tennis ball and made fully of ice. The entire scenery glittered as dozens of sparkling balls of ice levitated in the air.

But beauty can be cruel at times.

Axel let down another leaf and this time it hit one of the ice balls. It immediately turned into ice as well and plunged to the ground, only to be swallowed up the quicksand.

"...Seriously who makes up these levels?" Roxas complained.

"Oh, oh I remember!" Demyx happily piped up, "One time Marluxia's arm was covered in ice and he was trying to melt it with a blow-dryer! Was that because of this level?"

"Yeah," Axel snickered. "I didn't even know we _had_ a blow-dryer until then. He must've been hiding it for himself."

"Maybe he had brought it along," Demyx suggested, "I mean, you brought along a lighter when you were captured, Axel."

"...I doubt he was carrying around a blow-dryer before he got captured by a theme park attraction," Roxas deadpanned. "Anyway, where's the key lock?"

"In a crucified wisteria", Axel answered cheekily.

"...What?" Roxas blinked. "Can't you give a _straight_ answer for once?" When he saw Axel grin and prepare for a lame comeback, he quickly continued, "And don't even think about making a gay joke, you sick pyro!"

"Touchy, besides I was giving you an honest answer," Axel answered. "Oh, and duck." The redhead pushed down Roxas' head.

"Huh?" Suddenly an ice ball collided with a branch where Roxas' head had been.

"Enough chitchatting," Axel remarked, "Time to find the 'holy' wisteria." He jumped off the tree branch he had been standing on and carefully tracked forward, nimbly avoiding touching either the ground or the ice balls.

Slowly but surely the trio made their way through the rainforest. All of them had been hit several times and had frozen spots all over their bodies that made it difficult to move. Axel had half-heartedly tried to melt the ice with his lighter but hadn't been very successful.

"So where is that Jesus wisteria of yours, Axel?" Roxas asked crabbily. The cold was not improving his mood. Avoiding hits to his legs had frozen both his hands. The fact that he seemed to be doing the poorest wasn't improving his mood either. He had always been kind of a sore loser.

"Right there," Axel replied with a smirk.

And yes, right of front them a large wisteria had draped itself in the shape of a Christian cross on a tree.

"...I guess you could call that a crucified wisteria." Roxas could feel the twitch in his eyes from a few levels back returning. "But where's the lock?"

"Right in the middle," Axel replied. "Go ahead, Demy."

Demyx's hands pushed their way through the flowers and opened the lock with the key. "All done." He said with a smile.

* * *

"Congratulations, subjects VI, VIII, IX and XIII. You have passed Level 9. You may now choose to rest or continue levelling," a computer voice droned.

Axel looked at his own frozen limbs and at the other two blondes', "Rest."

The trio entered the Rest Room. They were the first ones back.

"I'll boil some water and get us some hot towels to melt our limbs," Demyx cheerily said and skipped off.

"Where does he find the energy," Roxas wondered aloud. "Have you ever seen him depressed?"

Axel paused for a moment to think before answering, "If one of us gets injured or hurt he'll feel sad for that person. Probably even more than if he were to be hurt himself. But yeah, aside from that he's always peppy." A wink. "And it'll only get worse since Zexion is now his slave."

"Haha, I feel more sorry for Marluxia. Having Demyx boss you around cannot be nearly as bad as having Larxene boss you around," Roxas commented.

"Meh, he'll hardly notice the difference," Axel made the noise of a whip, "She's already got Marly trained if you ask me."

The feeling of someone trying to burn a hole in the back of his head, made Axel turn around. Only to come face to face with a certain ticked of pink haired man. "I thought I'd told you not to call me _that_," Marluxia icily commented.

Axel tried to save his hide in vain. "Hehe, have I ever told you how much I like your hair, Marluxia? So nice and pi- Aaah!"

* * *

**Day 1467****. **

**Subjects VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII and XIII have passed Level 9.**

**Subject I has failed at Level 19. X has been relocated to Level 15.**

**Subject VII has failed at Level 19. X has been relocated to Level 15.**

**Subject II has failed at Level 18. X has been relocated to Level 15.**

**No crashes have been reported. **

**Current Level of subjects:  
I – 15  
II – 15  
III – 13  
IV – 13**

**V – 18  
VI – 9  
VII – 15  
VIII – 9  
IX – 9  
X – 11  
XI – 9  
XII – 9  
XIII – 9**

* * *

_**Author's Note**__: Don't mess with Marluxia ;D _

_I'll try to at least update monthly from now on. _

_On a random note, I have finally started playing KH Days but my hands starts hurting if I play longer than 30 minutes D: And I really don't care for Xion. Her hair is not fabulous enough to fit in the Organization xD So if you were wondering, no she isn't going to appear in this story. _


	8. Staircase to the Deep

_**Author's Note**__: Laaaaate update but still an improvement compared to last time, right? XD I swear I will finish this story ...someday._

_And thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews :D_

_Summary: __Roxas and co. are stuck in some kind of virtual levelling game. Namine seems to have some control of it (but is not the creator) and planted a bug which activated ever since Roxas, the thirteenth subject, entered. If Roxas' life is endangered by one of the levels, this bug activates and crashes the level (but only after Roxas has been damaged). This is all figured out by Zexion and Marluxia, who both seem to know more than they let on. Once a level crashes a voice randomly spills out 8 letters. Finding out what word these letters are supposed to form could help them crash the entire system. _

_Remember? _

_On to level 10!_

* * *

**Abyss**** Game**

Chapter 8 – Staircase to the Deep

* * *

_He was drowning in darkness. _

_It seemed like a thick blanket of air was pressing down on him, yet there was no air to breathe in. _

_Suffocating. _

_Dark. _

"_Let me out!" _

_He wanted to yell, wanted to sound angry. But it wasn't even a whisper. Nobody could hear him._

_Alone._

_All alone._

"_Let me out!"_

_Too dark. Can't breathe. _

_Too cold. _

_Too hot._

"_Let me leave!"_

_His eyes wouldn't open. Sweat made his clothes stick to his skin. _

_Tired._

_So tired._

"_Please let me leave!"_

_Despair. Fear._

"_Please!"_

_Why couldn't it just end? Better no life than this life..._

"_Please... please..."_

* * *

"Axel, wake up!" Roxas yelled as he shook Axel. The redhead was obviously having a nightmare. He was covered in sweat and murmuring pleads.

After some more thrashing, the redhead slowly opened his eyes. "...Roxas?" He looked around the room blearily. A pair of worried eyes stared down on him.

"...Are you okay?" Roxas asked quietly. He wasn't used to seeing Axel look so... _fragile_. Though the blonde knew very well that the grin that seemed to have been permanently imprinted on Axel's face wasn't always genuine, he wasn't sure how to react to this sudden change.

The change didn't last long though. As recognition rose in Axel's eyes part of the mask slipped back in place. "Yeah, I'm fine," Axel responded. "Just a nightmare. What time is it?"

Roxas decided to let the obvious change of topic slide for the moment. "...Almost 7 a.m."

"Alrighty, I'll go take a quick shower. See you at breakfast, Roxie!" Axel cheerily responded. He made a move to leave the bed but Roxas grabbed his arm. "Yes, Rox?"

"..."

No response.

"...Roxas?"

"Don't. Do. That," Roxas said slowly as if speaking to a child. "Don't pretend you're fine. You were _begging_." He couldn't stop himself from emphasizing it. "If you don't want to tell me what you dreamt about then that's fine. I won't ask." His eyes softened slightly. "But I know that putting on a fake smile only makes a person feel more miserable on the inside."

They stared silently at each other for a while until Axel nodded curtly. "Okay."

"Okay." Roxas let go of the redhead's arm.

Definitely not the best way to start a day.

* * *

After a relatively calm breakfast –Zexion had somehow managed to burn water- everyone was getting ready for a new level. After a brief discussion everyone agreed that, considering they were almost at level 10, they should divide into two groups of 3.

"If we fail this level now, then we'll drop back to level 5," Zexion commented. "But if we finish this level then we'll be remain at level 10 even if we lose the next."

"So it's like a new safe point?" Roxas asked. It all sounded like some kind of videogame.

Zexion nodded. "When we are challenging level 10 to 15 then we'll revert back to level 10 if we lose."

"But," Larxene cut in, "If you lose two times in a row, you'll get kicked back to level 5. So don't start getting too comfy."

Roxas nodded. He knew she didn't think much of him –or anyone beside Marluxia- but Larxene was one woman he didn't feel like crossing. Though he wondered how much of her bite was an act. But he decided to just change the topic. "So who will go with who?"

Axel looked at Roxas. Demyx and Zexion looked at each other and so did Larxene and Marluxia. One team had to broken up and none of them felt like being that team. But they had to. Three people had more chances of winning a level than two and they needed to win this one.

After a second or two, Larxene made a vague wave with her hand and walked over to Axel and Roxas. "I'll go with these two fruitcakes." She said with a sneer at Axel. "At least one person will be capable of heavy lifting this way, eh? Toothpick."

"Haha," Axel mocked back, "I guess someone is jealous of my trained, lean body."

With the two teams chosen and willing (if you ignored the volley of insults raining between two certain people), they all set out to level 10.

And Roxas? He wished he had joined Demyx and Zexion.

* * *

Roxas, Axel and Larxene found themselves standing on top of a huge spiral stairs inside a large dome. The stairs spiralled around a large, see-through pillar made of glass and filled with water. The entire pillar had the occasional shallow crack on the surface here and there. Which already wouldn't have been comforting if the pillar had only been filled with water. But no, it had more.

"...Is that a serpent?" Roxas asked in wonder, his mouth slightly askew.

"Looks like it," Larxene responded casually. She didn't seem very impressed.

Neither did Axel. "You know, this reminds me, I haven't eaten fish in a while." He swept a loose hair of his brow. "Or chocolate, or pizza ...Man, I'm going be happy when we get to the next Restroom!" His green eyes grew distant as he remembered all the types of food he would be able to taste again.

"Hmmm", Larxene seemed to have joined Axel in his dream world.

Roxas was happy those two had finally found something to agree on. And a part of him was wondering whether they has sea-salt ice cream up there. But a bigger part of him was worried about the serpent though. The big serpent. The huge serpent. The you-guys-shouldn't-talk-about-food-but-freak-out-about-how-big-it-is serpent. You know, the one with the length of a bloody bus! But no, they were talking about cupcakes now! So he heaved a sigh, gave those cracks another suspicious look and took a few steps down the stairs. Axel and Larxene soon followed.

They were half-way down the stairs when a glimmer caught Roxas' eye. The key. Inside the water. The one with a bus-sized serpent swimming it.

The trio all let out a groan at the same time.

"So..." Roxas muttered. "Now what?" He wasn't sure he wanted an answer though. The key moved as he talked. It was stuck in a loop, a current in the water made the key travel in circles near the glass. Seemingly in reach yet out of reach because of the wall of glass.

"Well," Axel responded, "It _is_ covered in cracks. And you," He gave Larxene a pointed look, "Did say something about 'doing the heavy lifting' for us?"

Larxene gave Axel a brief glare, looked at the pillar and went back to glaring at Axel. "You gonna make a lady do all the work?"

"A lady? No." Too easy. "_You_? Hell yeah."

Roxas stepped in before they entered another argument. "Am I the only worrying about the snake-thing?" The cracks could be easily used to break the glass and get to the key. ...But that would free the snake too. Even a small opening would quickly widen and yield under the pressure of the water.

"This is a big room, sunshine" Axel explained. "Even if all the water leaks out and fills the room, we will still be far above the water if we climb back up the stairs." He put one of his hand on the glass. "We break the glass when the key circles near us and grab it. They we hurry back up the stairs." He grinned, proud of his plan.

"And the keyhole, smartass?" Larxene snapped.

Okay, the plan might still have some flaws in it.

"...Let's just get the key and worry about that later." Axel snapped back.

"Shouldn't we-" Roxas started, but Larxene had already smashed in the glass and grabbed the key. And with a simple "Well, start running" from Larxene, they ran back up the stairs. In a few seconds the cracks all over the pillar broke and water came crashing out. But they reached the top without too much trouble (not counting the wet shoes and heart attacks on Axel and Roxas' part.)

"..." Roxas felt like making a snappy remark at Axel but waited for Larxene. She was a lot better at it than him anyway.

"So 'we'll be far above the water', you pyro-worthless-anorexic IDIOT!" Larxene almost shrieked.

Maybe not that much better. Really, Roxas could've thought of those insults himself.

Axel shifted a little, "It depends on how you look at it..."

"What part of 'the water is two steps from touching our feet' is not clear!" Larxene snapped. Her glare couldn't get much darker.

Axel shifted some more. "There's always more water in stuff than you think?" Seems it _could_ get darker. "...Still, the water will be too shallow near the stairs for that snakey to get near us." He was obviously trying to find the bright side.

This however only ticked Larxene off more. Because A: she didn't want to see a bright side. And B: he was wrong. Dead wrong.

"We're on a spiral staircase, you moron!" Larxene rebuked. "It can get to us from the freakin' side!"

Axel found himself without an answer in the face of such logic and decided to walk the cowardly path and change the subject. "So Roxas, what were you going to say before _someone_ suddenly decided to break the glass?" He asked sweetly.

"Don't even try to point the blame on me, toothpick!" Larxene answered to Axel's remark. But said redhead just waved his hand at her and looked at Roxas. _The coward_, she thought darkly. _I should have gone with emo and peppy. _

"Ehm.." Roxas wasn't sure he should interrupt Larxene when she obviously still happy with throwing accusations at Axel. And the guy did kind of deserve them. But so did she and he wanted to leave this level sometime soon, so he just answered. "I was going to say 'let's look for the keyhole _before_ we break the glass'."

"Ha! See? All youuuur fault," Axel pointed accusingly at Larxene.

"Oh yeah?" Larxene challenged, getting ready for another fight.

_Enough._ _That's it_, Roxas thought_. I have had it with these two_. "It's BOTH your faults! So will you two shut up and think already! I don't want to become fish food just because you two can't admit your mistakes and get on with it!" He half-yelled. Wasn't he supposed to be the immature teenager instead of these two?

"..."

"..."

Two pairs of widened eyes stared at the little blonde for a second. Axel briefly thought about commenting that 'he liked them feisty' but decided Roxas wasn't in the mood to hear such a comment. Quite frankly, the squirt looked ready to do some damage. So he nodded and gave an apologetic grin. Larxene just hmmped and looked to the side but that was the closest to an apology she would get anyway.

That still left them with a dome full of water, a serpent and the search for a certain keyhole.

* * *

"Okay. Let's get one thing straight first," Axel said and turned to Roxas. "No crashing the level on purpose to get us out." In other words, no putting yourself in harm's way on purpose was what the redhead meant to say. _Like you did last time_, he thought. He was still a little upset about that.

Roxas just nodded meekly. Getting stabbed was one thing, but being eaten by a serpent wasn't high on his wish list.

"It has been pretty quiet though," Larxene commented. She paused for a moment and continued, "I just jinxed it, didn't I?" She eyed the water.

But nothing happened. It seemed the creature wasn't going to attack out of the blue; it had stay silent throughout their arguments. But that didn't mean it would stay docile when the trio would enter the water.

"These levels always go for the worst case scenario's, right?" Axel commented with a sigh. "So the keyhole will probably be at the bottom." _Under the serpent-filled water_ was left unsaid.

Roxas heaved a sigh as well. "At least the water is clear." You could practically see right down to the bottom, but the staircase they were standing on wasn't a good vantage point. They would have to go underwater for at least a second to get a good view. _Any volunteers?_ He thought bitterly.

"I'll go take a look," Larxene said suddenly. Her bravery startled Roxas. She had already rolled up her sleeves and was starting to take off her shoes, but Axel stopped her.

"Keep them on," Axel said. "It's annoying to swim with them, but they'll give your feet _some_ protection if snakey gets mean." He gave the water a withering look. "Just go under for a few seconds to see if you can find the key. Don't move too much. If snakey makes even one glance in your direction, then get back up immediately." He paused for a moment to think. "You know what? Just get your hands above the water and we'll drag you back in. That's faster."

"Axel, are sure this a good id-" Roxas started but Axel silenced him by resting a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll take turns, Larx." Axel was all business now. He turned to the shorter blonde. "Roxas, you still have that cut on your arm. That'll affect your speed." He offered a small smile. "So just keep both your eyes on our Lochness monster, okay?"

Roxas wanted to object but Axel had a point. Besides, he wasn't the fastest swimmer and his shortness didn't help much either. Axel and Larxene faced these situations without a shimmer of fear. It made Roxas feel a little incompetent, but he had only been here for a few days. They had been stuck here for over two years._ I will become stronger, braver_. Roxas vowed this to himself as he nodded to Axel.

"All right," Axel nodded back. "Remember, Larx, just enter the water silently. Try to stay unnoticed for once in your life." _Don't get hurt, witch._

"Look who's talking," Larxene replied. _Don't worry about me, toothpick._

And with that she took a deep breath and slipped into the water.

* * *

They had taken several dives now but without results. Axel and Larxene were soaked to the bone and shivering slightly (the water was cold). And Roxas was getting nervous. So far the serpent hadn't attacked them outright. But its curiosity seemed to have been piqued. Especially when they swam close to where the pillar of glass had stood.

When Roxas mentioned this, Larxene and Axel agreed that the keyhole might be near there.

"The only place hidden from our sight is the rubble at the bottom of that pillar we broke," Larxene commented. Her hair was drooping slightly, but even the weight of the water couldn't completely ruin her hairdo.

Axel nodded, "It's the most likely place for the keyhole to be."

"But that would mean diving deeper," Roxas joined in. "And potentially getting that thing to attack us." He really didn't want them to become fish food.

"I know," Axel said. He furrowed his brows a little. "You said it pays attention to us when we swim near that spot, right?" Roxas nodded to him. "So let's swim to the bottom far away from the 'pillar-zone' and then close in once we're at the bottom."

"I guess that's the best solu-" Roxas stopped himself and with an alarmed look he asked, "Why do you keep saying 'we'?"

Axel shared a glance with Larxene who nodded. "If we go down further then there's a bigger chance it'll attack. So I'd prefer it if Larx and I both went in together. To back each other up." When Roxas didn't look particularly reassured, he patted the blonde on his head. "We'll be fine."

And so, Axel and Larxene slipped into the water and neared the bottom from the side. Roxas kept a close eye on the serpent but it didn't seem particularly interested. Not until the duo closed in on the rubble that is. Suddenly the serpent dived down as if to protect its territory. Axel and Larxene, busy with clearing the rubble, didn't seem to notice. Roxas, feeling helpless, slapped his hands on the water to give them some kind of warning signal, but he wasn't sure if they could hear it.

Just as Axel made victory sign to himself when he caught sight of the keyhole underneath the rubble, Larxene looked up and spotted the large creature gaining in on them. She grabbed Axel by the scruff of his neck and dove to the side.

It just missed them.

Larxene and Axel were swimming desperately up and to the side, trying to get to the surface yet out of the 'pillar-zone'. Maybe it would stop attacking them then.

But no such luck.

The creature made a bite at Larxene and this time Axel barely managed to shove her out of harm's way. The tussle went on and the duo was definitely on the losing side. No human could compete with a creature of the sea.

Above the water Roxas was furious at his own helplessness. He could dive in but what good would that do? He was too slow and would only become an added burden instead of a proper diversion. He couldn't crash the level easily either: that snake could snatch him up and kill him in one bite instead of only injuring Roxas. _What can I do? What can I do!_ He wrecked his brain but couldn't find an answer. He had no weapon to use and barehanded he was useless. Roxas smashed his fists down on the stairs, unable to watch the serpent take another bite at what he had come to view as his _friends_. But the pain in his hands didn't relieve him. He was about to just dive in the water anyway so he could at least do something, but he was stopped by a strange sight.

The water surface had grown pale white, no longer see-through. It was a room. All white, even the few pieces of furniture were white. In the midst of it all was a little girl drawing. As she looked up Roxas remembered her. _Namine!_

"Namine! You have to help them!" Roxas pleaded her. The girl gave him a sad smile and held up two drawings.

She first pointed to the left one. It showed a long table with lots of chairs around it. But one chair had toppled over and was lying on the ground on its side. Not understanding its meaning, Roxas quickly looked to the picture on the right. It showed a sea of water with some rubble lying at the bottom_. This level?_ Roxas briefly wondered.

Namine gave another smile which didn't quite reach her eyes and put down both drawings. Then she grabbed a grey pencil and redrew the pillar. But this time she left it open at the top. The open top was just a bit above the water-level. She held the previous drawing up to him again and drew 'XIII' on it in big strokes. Then the image disappeared and the water surface returned to normal.

Still processing everything for a second, Roxas didn't move. But then he noticed that the pillar had really returned. It was just like the level where he had been trapped underwater: her drawings could alters levels. _No time for that, where are Axel and Larxene?_ Roxas reminded himself. He spotted them still trying to flee from the serpent. He had to get their attention and draw them into the pillar. The pillar stood out above the water a bit, but if they could get in then they could reach the keyhole. And stay out of the serpent's reach. So Roxas dived into the water, hoping the sound would draw their attention.

And it did.

But it also caught the snake's attention.

The look on Axel's face showed he wasn't too happy with Roxas' antics, but the latter just pointed at the pillar. Axel and Larxene quickly caught on after that. They hadn't even noticed its appearance, too busy with fending off the serpent.

Which was still there.

Its attention now locked onto Roxas and the blonde made a underwater sprint to the pillar. With its back turned to them, Axel and Larxene used this opportunity to try and injure the serpent's back. But they were running out of air to do much damage.

The serpent turned back when he felt something kicking his back but didn't spot anything. The duo had used this opportunity to quickly swim past it and towards Roxas and the pillar. Roxas, seeing them nearing him, grabbed the edge and pulled himself up. He figured he might as well just show them what to do and threw himself over the edge and into the safety of the pillar. Axel and Larxene soon followed and took a much needed breath of air along the way.

For a moment their moment of triumph was ruined as a shock rang through the pillar's walls. The serpent didn't seem willing to give up and banged at the pillar repeatedly.

The trio looked at each other and hurriedly swam down towards the keyhole. They wanted to hurry and get the hell out of there before the serpent might get the bright idea of jumping into the pillar with them.

At the bottom they all moved the last pieces of rubble out of the way and found the keyhole. Larxene quickly entered the key into it and the level ended.

As they left Roxas wondered if Marluxia or Zexion would understand the meaning of Namine's first drawing. Well, that and if the new restroom had proper hot showers. They all needed one.

**

* * *

Day 1468****. **

**Subjects VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII and XIII have passed Level 10.**

**Subject V has failed at Level 18. X has been relocated to Level 15.**

**No crashes have been reported. **

**An interference at Level 9 has been noted.**

**Current Level of subjects:  
I – 16  
II – 16  
III – 14  
IV – 14  
****V – 15  
****VI – 10  
****VII – 16  
****VIII – 10  
****IX – 10  
****X – 11  
****XI – 10  
****XII – 10  
****XIII – 10**

_**

* * *

Author's Note**__:_ _I hope you all enjoyed it, especially since I made you all wait so long. The plot will move on more (I hope) next chapter thanks to Namine's drawing. And what was that dream at the beginning about..? ;D_

_I hope the next update will be faster (I already know what the level will be about for once) but I'm not making any promises since I'll probably fail to keep them anyway._

_Thank you for reading~_


End file.
